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Imagine losing your
passport on the eve of your travel. That is exactly what happened to
20-year-old Bobli Roy. But what made matters even worse was the fact
that she had secured a good job in the US and was on her way to that
country when she lost her passport and all her certificates. Bobli
was full of joy when she got on to Kerala Express at
Thiruvananthapuram to travel to Delhi, from where she was to catch her
flight to the US. That joy, however, turned to shock and grief when
she discovered her hand baggage containing her passport and
certificates stolen from her compartment. What made matters worse was
the unprofessional attitude of the TTE, who refused to act on her
complaint with alacrity. So much so that Bobli had to wait till the
train reached the Vijayawada station to lodge a complaint with the
police there. This incident that happened in the first week of
October highlights yet again, not only the failure on the part of the
Railways to prevent thefts on trains, but also the response of the
railway staff to such thefts. The Railway authorities have often said
that the passengers who are victims of thefts need not disembark at
the next station to lodge a complaint, but can do so on board. Forms,
the Railways have said, are provided for the purpose and on receiving
such complaints, the nearest police post would immediately be
informed. In this age of wireless communication, this is certainly not
difficult. Yet, passengers who have lost their belongings say that
they got no such help on the train. In fact in a number of cases of
such thefts brought before the consumer courts, too, what is apparent
is the negligence of the railway staff that creates situations
conducive for such thefts, and then their inaction that helps thieves
escape. In the case of Union of India vs J.S.Kunwar, for example (RP
No 4007 of 2009, decided on Dec 15, 2009), the complaint of the
passenger was that (a) the Railways allowed unauthorised persons to
enter the compartment, as a result of which his attache got stolen
from the compartment; and (b) when informed of it, the TTE and the
train escort refused to register an FIR and, therefore, it was only
the next day, when the train reached Dehradun could he lodge a
complaint. He was travelling from Lucknow to Haridwar on July 18,
2002, when the theft took place. In this case, the lower courts had
awarded the consumer a compensation of Rs 7000 along with 9 per cent
interest, but the Railways went on to challenge even that before the
national consumer disputes redressal commission. What was the argument
of the Railways here? That the passenger was careless and had slept
without securing his baggage under the seat with a lock and chain as
any prudent man would do! I wonder if the railway officials are aware
that even the chain and lock have not prevented thieves from decamping
with passengers’ baggage. The commission here also quoted one of
its earlier orders in the case of Union of India vs Sanjiv Dilsukhraj
Dave (2003 CTJ 196 (CP) (NCDRC), wherein it had pointed out that in
addition to examining the tickets, a major responsibility was cast on
the TTE to ensure that no intruders entered the reserved compartments.
Failure to do so constituted gross dereliction of duty. The
commission had also pointed to the price difference between a reserved
and an unreserved compartment and had emphasised the need for the
Railways to ensure that the reserved compartments were kept free of
unauthorised passengers. Any failure on this front constituted
deficiency in the service provided, the commission had pointed
out. So instead of fighting a losing battle before courts,
the Railways would do well to adopt modern methods of crime
prevention and detection to ensure the safety of passengers’
belongings.
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