Bombay HC: Drunk Passenger Can't Claim Railway Compensation for Injuries

• Bombay High Court denied compensation to an intoxicated passenger injured at a railway station, upholding the Railway Claims Tribunal's decision.
• Justice Jitendra Jain cited F. Scott Fitzgerald's quote: 'First you take a drink, then the drink takes a drink, then the drink takes you.'
• The court emphasized that alcohol destroys understanding and has severe social and personal consequences, leading to family breakdowns and social disorder.
• The applicant, a lab assistant, claimed injury after being hit by a train while waiting on a platform in 2001; hospital records showed he consumed four large pegs of alcohol prior to the incident.
• Section 124A of the Railway Act 1989 exempts railway administration from compensation if injury or death is due to intoxication, suicide, self-inflicted injury, criminal act, or illness.