Widow gets Railways compensation after 23 years, CJI says smile is what we want to earn

New Delhi: "A smile on a poor person's face is what we want to earn, nothing else," Chief Justice of India Surya Kant said on Thursday while noting that Railways finally managed to trace and pay Rs 8.92 lakh as compensation to a tragedy-struck widow, who lost her husband in a train accident in 2002 after the Supreme Court's nudge.

The bench, also comprising Justice Joymalya Bagchi, said it was a difficult task to trace the elderly women, who had changed her residence in a far-flung village of Bihar and her last contact was lost as her local lawyer passed away, lauded the efforts of Railways and advocate Fauzia Shakil, who represented the widow pro bono (without any fees) to ensure she gets the financial relief.

"This young lawyer (Shakil), who represented her pro bono ensured that she gets the compensation after 23 years. We had to trace her with the help of local police and administration and finally railways managed to pay her. A smile on a poor person's face is what we want to earn nothing else," CJI Surya Kant said.

The railways in its affidavit said that in compliance with the October 6 order, it managed to trace the woman Sanyokta Devi with the help of local administration and the police.

"That in compliance with the order of the Supreme Court dated October 6, 2025 the Railways' sent a staff to collect the PAN Card, Aadhaar Card, Certificate issued by the Gram Panchayat and Bank mandate particulars from the resident of the appellant/claimant with the help of the local police station. However, the appellant/ claimant submitted all documents except the Bank particulars. She later sent her Bank particulars through speed post on November 10, 2025 in this office," the railways said.

It further stated that after receiving the bank particulars, the authorities had remitted Rs 8,92,953 lakh to her bank account on November 13.

In October, the top court walked an extra mile to ensure that the widow is duly compensated by the Railways after years of struggle.

Devi's husband Vijay Singh had a valid railway ticket from Bakhtiyarpur station to go to Patna by the Bhagalpur-Danapur Inter­city Express on March 21, ­2002, but he accidentally fell down from the running train at the originating station itself, due to heavy rush inside the compartment and died instantly.

What followed was a legal battle for next two decades, as Devi's claim for compensation was turned down by the Railway Claims Tribunal and the Patna High Court on the ground that the deceased was of unsound mind.

Aggrieved by the high court's order denying her claim, she, through her lawyer Shakil, approached the apex court.

The Supreme Court in 2023 rejected the reasoning given by the Railway Claims Tribunal and the Patna High Court and set aside the orders terming them "completely absurd", "imaginary" and "contrary to the undisputed facts on record".

"What emerges is the fact that the appellant's claim was not accepted by both the Tribunal and the High Court solely on the ground that the deceased was of unsound mind and he was knocked down by an unidentified train," the top court had noted in its order of February 2, 2023.

It had observed that if the deceased would have been of unsound mind, it would have been nearly impossible for him to purchase a valid railway ticket for travel to Patna and could not have tried to board the train all by himself.

The top court directed the Railways to pay the widow within two months a compensation of Rs 4 lakh with six per cent interest per annum from the date of filing of the claim petition.

But to her bad luck, her local counsel could not convey her the order as he passed away.

The railways on other hand tried to comply with the order and wrote different letters to Devi but could not get any response from her for want of a correct address.

The Railways, unable to give the compensation with interest, knocked at the doors of the apex court expressing its helplessness in complying with the order of February 2, 2023 granting the woman compensation.

The top court noted that the woman owing to her family circumstances has moved from the place where she was residing at the time when the unfortunate accident took place.

In order to trace the woman to provide her relief, the top court asked the Principal Chief Commercial Manager of Eastern Railway at Kolkata to issue a public notice in two leading newspapers (English and Hindi) of the region where she has been residing giving full details of acceptance of her claim by the apex court and that such compensation could be received by her by producing the requisite documents including Aadhar Card and details of the bank accounts, upon further verification.

It also directed the SSP Nalanda and the SHO, of Bakhtiyarpur, police station to physically verify the whereabouts of the woman and if they are able to trace her, inform her about the acceptance of her claim and her entitlement to receive the awarded amount.

Finally, the railways informed the top court that after great efforts made by the Railways' and the local police they were able to find the correct village and they have also successfully located the woman along with her family members.

The apex court directed the Railways' authorities to make payment of the compensation amount to the woman with the assistance of the local police and directed the local SHO to accompany the Railway officials and ensure that the compensation amount is deposited in her bank account.