Railways told to pay ₹1L to woman for luggage theft

New Delhi: A Delhi consumer court recently held Indian Railways responsible for "negligence and deficiency in services" and directed it to pay Rs 1.08 lakh to a woman whose luggage was stolen while she was travelling from New Delhi to Indore on a reserved seat in a reserved coach on the Malwa Express.The district consumer dispute redressal commission (central district), comprising president Inder Jeet Singh and member Rashmi Bansal, was hearing the complaint of Jaya Kumari, a resident of Delhi. Advocate Prashant Prakash appeared for the complainant.According to Kumari, her bag was stolen in Jan 2016 between Jhansi and Gwalior on the Malwa Express by some people who had entered the reserved coach but did not have any reservation. The TTE in the coach and railway administration was immediately informed in writing about the incident but paid no heed, the woman alleged.“It was the duty of the railways for a safe, secure and comfortable journey as well as the safety and security of belongings of passengers. The complainant’s belongings were not recovered,” the complaint said.The commission stated the railways had the territorial jurisdiction to try the case as the complainant boarded the train from New Delhi and there was “a continuity of the journey” till its arrival at its destination (Indore). It said that the office of the opposite party (general manager, Indian Railway) was situated within the commission’s jurisdiction.The commission rejected the arguments of the railways that Kumari was negligent about her belongings and that the luggage was not booked. It noted the submissions of the woman that she was made to “run from pillar to post to register an FIR”."The manner in which the episode has happened and valuables were stolen followed by the efforts of the complainant to get the FIR registered with the authorities for appropriate inquiry or investigation, she suffered all kinds of inconvenience and harassment to pursue her legal rights," the commission said.The commission noted that the complainant had established her case against the railways for negligence and deficiency in service as her belongings were stolen during her journey against reserved tickets.“Had there been no negligence or deficiency in services on the part of the opposite party or its staff, there would be no such incident.... Therefore, the complainant is held entitled to reimbursement of loss of Rs 80,000,” the commission said.It awarded Rs 20,000 as damages for inconvenience, with a cost of Rs 8,000.