Hyderabad, April 30 --  The Telangana High Court has ruled that a mere assertion by the Indian Railways that a passenger may have committed suicide is not sufficient to deny compensation to the victim's family, and that the burden of proving suicide lies squarely with the Railways once the family establishes that the deceased was a bona fide traveller.

Justice Vakiti Ramakrishna Reddy, setting aside a Railway Claims Tribunal order that had dismissed a compensation plea, held that once claimants place on record evidence showing the victim held a valid ticket and died in an accidental fall, it is for the Railways to rebut that with credible proof, not merely a bald plea of suicide.

"Mere assertion that the deceased committed suicide ...