Thiruvananthapuram: A bus conductor with Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) has been suspended for allegedly misbehaving with a High Court Judge.
Conductor T K Suresh Kumar, who was in charge of the Reservation Counter at Ernakulam Depot at the time of the incident, was suspended by Vigilance Executive Director upon directive from KSRTC Managing Director.
When the Judge arrived at the ticket counter with his gunman on Saturday, the conductor was not present at the counter. When the conductor reached there after 15 minutes, he said he had gone for tea and that they should wait if they want ticket.
After the conductor dispensed the ticket, the Judge found that his name has been printed wrongly. When he pointed this out, the conductor behaved rudely and later demanded a written application for correcting the name.
The Judge gave an application and got a new ticket, but he found that he has been allotted a ticket to Thiruvananthapuram instead of Kollam. Again when the Judge pointed out the mistake, the conductor said he cannot make corrections again and again.
Later, the Judge payed the extra bus fare for Thiruvananthapuram and travelled in the KSRTC Scania bus. This disrespectful behaviour towards the Judge was brought to light by KSRTC’s counsel in the High Court.
Immediately, the Managing Director asked the Vigilance Executive Director to take action against the conductor.
KSRTC MD Rajamanickam said it is the duty of the staff to behave decently with the passengers. The Corporation decided to take stringent action against the conductor as he behaved rudely towards the passenger even after realizing that he is a High Court Judge.