Railway to form spl bench for claims, to bear medical expenses

Mumbai, July 28 (UNI) The Railway Claims Tribunal National Chairman Justice S K Mahajan has accepted the request of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) delegation to form a special bench of the Tribunal at Mumbai to handle the cases of 7/11 serial bomb blasts.

In the serial blasts on Mumbai's transit system 186 people were killed and another 823 injured.

The delegation, comprising former MP Kirit Somaiya and Suresh Waghmare, had called on Justice Mahajan and Railway Board chairman J P Batra in New Delhi yesterday, according to a BJP release here today.

Justice Mahajan said that efforts would be made to increase the human infrastructure to give top priority to these cases, while Mr Batra assured them that the railway would bear all the medical treatment expenses of the bomb blasts injured.

Out of 823 injured, more than 563 patients are taking treatment in 83 private hospitals. Now, with this assurance, the victims would not have to bear the burden of their treatment bills.

The release said the tribunal assured to try to finalise the compensation cases of death victims within two months after receiving applications.

There are presently 2,332 cases pending before the Mumbai Railway Claims Tribunal, of which 2,200 belong to human accident and the tribunal disposes on an average 650 cases in a year, the release added.

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