Ranchi, Nov 3 (PTI) Jharkhand High Court has granted Rs 8 lakh compensation to the husband of a woman who lost her life while attempting to cross rail tracks in the absence of a foot over-bridge and proper lighting facilities in Garhwa in 2017.

The court of Justice Pradeep Kumar Srivastava, while hearing an appeal by the woman's husband Suresh Ram against the railways, held the East Central Railway, Hajipur, responsible for the accident as it did not have proper lights and a foot over-bridge at the station and ordered the compensation.

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According to officials, Ram's wife was returning from Windhamganj to Garhwa on the Singrauli-Palamau Patna Link Express on March 30, 2017. After reaching Garhwa at night, she was crossing the tracks to get out of the station when she was run over by a train, they added.

After investigation and post-mortem, it was confirmed that the woman died due to a rail accident, they added.

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Later, Ram filed an application at the Railway Claims Tribunal in Ranchi for compensation. However, it was rejected by the tribunal in September 2019 after which he moved Jharkhand High Court.

Ram's counsel Chaitali C Sinha argued that the deceased was a bona fide passenger of the railways and was returning to her house by crossing the tracks in Garhwa.

Since there was no foot over-bridge, passengers had to cross the tracks to get out of the station, which resulted in the accident, Sinha had told court.

Setting aside the order of the tribunal, the court of Srivastava held the railways guilty and ordered payment of compensation to Ram within six weeks with 6 per cent interest from the date of filing of the application in 2018 till its payment.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)