‘Precinct’ to decide jurisdiction of Railway Claims Tribunal

To bring a claim within Railways Act, 1989, an untoward incident should take place within the railway precincts.

In one such case, wherein, claimant’s brother was shot by some criminals while he was on approach road heading towards the railway station. The Railway Claims Tribunal rejected the claim on the ground that the incident took place beyond the railway precincts. However, on appeal titled as Rubi Kuwar Vs Union of India and others, the Hon’ble Patna High Court reversed the decision of the Railway Claims Tribunal holding that “the railway police registered the case, investigated into it and submitted a final report supporting the incident as also the fact that it fell within railway precincts”.

The Hon’ble High Court, taking aid from Oxford Dictionary also held that “Meaning thereby that the word ‘precinct’ would not only include the area around a place or a building enclosed by a wall but also that area having its own police station."