High Court rules that loss of a seven-month fetus qualifies as child death, orders extra rail compensation

Savitri Devi was traveling with her two sons on the Jan Sadharan Express from Sitapur Cantt to Biswan when she fell while alighting at Biswan station in June 2017, sustaining fatal injuries. She was about seven months pregnant, and the fetus also died. Her relatives sought compensation from the Railway Claims Tribunal, which denied any separate payment for the unborn child, citing the Railways Act.

On appeal, the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court, led by Justice Prashant Kumar, rejected that view, stating that a fetus beyond five months’ gestation qualifies as a child for compensation calculations. The court set aside the tribunal’s order and instructed Indian Railways to pay an additional ₹8 lakh, aligning with the amended Schedule of the Railway Accidents and Untoward Incidents (Compensation) Rules, 1990, and affirmed the railways’ liability under Section 124-A of the Act.