New Delhi, July 5 (IANS) The Supreme Court on Tuesday awarded compensation of Rs five lakh each to the families of the 15 people who were killed in February 2011 in a train accident in Uttar Pradesh's Shahajahanpur district.
A bench of Chief Justice T.S. Thakur and Justice Uday Umesh Lalit also awarded compensation of Rs. 15 lakh to those who suffered permanent disability, Rs 75,000 to those who suffered grievous injuries and Rs 35,000 to those suffering other injuries.
The deceased and the injured were returning from an Indo-Tibetan Border Police recruitment camp in the state's Bareilly city when the accident took place on February 1, 2011.
Pronouncing the judgment, Justice Lalit said that they have issued certain directions to the railways.
The 15 victims, who were travelling on the rooftop, were killed after being hit by a low over-bridge near Shahajahanpur as the train passed through it.
Fourteen youth who were travelling on the roof of Himgiri Express were killed after being hit by the low overbridge and one died after he fell from Traveni Express in Hardoi district in Uttar Pradesh.
The court's order came on a PIL by Anil Kumar Gupta.
In the course of the hearing, the court had asked the railways to remove infringement of foot over-bridges in Lucknow Division as was pointed out in the September 9, 2011, report submitted by the Commissioner of Railway Safety, with regard to the incident.
The bench had in the course of the hearing of the PIL also sought information from the railways about the similar infringements of road or foot over-bridges in other divisions of railways and steps taken to remove them.
