Indian Railways has paid a sum of Rs 30,000 as a compensation to a family which could not use washrooms for more than an hour and a half as the passage to the toilet was blocked.
Deputy Legal Advisory in the ministry of law and justice, Dev Kant, took the Indian Railways to the consumer court saying they had encountered mental and physical stress due to deficiency in service while travelling from Amritsar to Delhi in 2009 with his wife and two children.
After seven years of protracted legal battle, the state consumer forum upheld the compensation of Rs 30,000 to his family by the district consumer court. The complainant told the court that a big crowd entered into the reserved compartments at Ludhiana Railway station by force and occupied all the vacant seats.
Those who could not find the place to sit laid on the compartments floor and blocked passages towards washrooms. Dev Kant’s son Harisharan Bagga, who is also an advocate, said the crowd did not let him use the washroom for around 90 mins. The passage was jam packed and the crowd was uncooperative.
He also said that we have informed TTE and asked hi to call the railway police but he did not bother and went away after expressing his inability to handle the situation. The counsel for Northern railways told court that the crowd was asked to vacate the train at the Ambala station and therefore, timely action has been taken.
However, The court observed that it is the duty of the railway to allow only authorized persons to travel in trains which it failed to do. All the unauthorized persons who boarded the train in the large number naturally caused discomfort harassment and mental agony to the passengers who were travelling on the valid ticket.
