New Delhi:
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday said that a passenger traveling in the train was responsible for the safety of his belongings and the railways were not responsible for any theft until negligence or misconduct was done by his authorities.
Justice Ravinder Dudeja heard a person’s plea and ruled that he was traveling in a 3 AC coach and his backpack, his laptops, cameras, charger, eye glass and ATM cards, stolen during a visit from New Delhi to Nagpur in January 2013.
The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission had earlier dismissed his complaint, claiming more than Rs 84,000 for loss of goods apart from Rs 1 lakh for harassment due to lack of services.
The High Court upheld the decision of the National Commission and said that the claim was mainly based on the fact that the attendant was sleeping and rude, and the conductor was not detected.
However, the court said, the coach’s doors to enable some unauthorized intruders to steal were “not even whisper”.
The judgment stated that there may not be an amount for lack of absence service per conductor only when there was no charge regarding his failure in closing the door.
“There should be a proper alliance amid the negligence of duty by the commission and conductor and attendant by conductors and attendants .. There is nothing on the record to suggest that the theft could not be done by some co-passenger on the board. If this was, the presence of the conductor in the train would not have any help.”
Referring to a Supreme Court verdict, the High Court found it “abundantly” that the passenger was responsible for keeping their belongings safe and not for the railway.
The Consumer District Forum had earlier kept the railways for a shortage of service and in 2014 the petitioner was awarded Rs 5,000 as compensation to the petitioner for harassment.
The State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission increased it to Rs 1 lakh in 2023.
In 2024, the State Commission’s order was kept separate by the National Commission in 2024 after the officials filed an amendment petition.
The passenger challenged the National Commission order and sought a direction to restore the decision of the State Commission.
The High Court said, “This court does not find any deformity or incompatible in the 29.08.2024 dated 29.0824 dated by NCDRC. The petition has no merit. The petition has been dismissed accordingly.”
The Railways argued in the High Court that as per the rules applied, it could not be held responsible for the loss of any un-sat down and it is reported that if the petitioner used a strong iron rings under the seat, they were not stolen to tie or lock their belongings.
(Except for the headline, the story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is published by a syndicated feed.)
