The Bombay High Court has acknowledged the harsh reality that suburban train passengers often have no option but to stand at the doors during peak hours due to severe overcrowding. The court said that even the judiciary cannot deny this situation and upheld the compensation awarded to the family of a passenger who died after falling from a local train. It ruled that such travel cannot be labelled as negligence.

Justice Jitendra Jain delivered the judgment while dismissing the Railways’ claim that the passenger’s death was caused by his own carelessness in standing near the door. The Railway Accident Claims Tribunal had granted compensation to the victim’s family in December 2009, which the Central Government had challenged.

The victim had fallen from a local train on October 28, 2005,

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