Any railway employee, and not just the Government Railway Police (GRP), Railway Protection Force (RPF) or the Travel Ticket Examiners (TTE), can throw out passengers who are either drunk or are creating nuisance in the train. The Uttarakhand High Court has authorised “any railway servant” to take the action.
“If any person in any railway carriage or upon any part of a railway is in a state of intoxication, or commits any nuisance or act of indecency or uses abusive or obscene language, willfully or without excuse interferes with any amenity provided by the Railway Administration so as to affect the comfortable travel of any passenger, he can be removed from the coach by any railway servant and shall, in addition to the forfeiture of his pass or ticket, be punishable with imprisonment which may extend to six months and with fine which may extend to Rs 500,” said Justices Manoj Kumar Tiwari and Rajiv Sharma last week posting the matter for October 25, 2018.
Giving this directive to ensure cleanliness on trains and railway station premises, the court has also asked the Railways to ensure that train compartments, bogies, coaches and platforms as well as railway stations are not dirtied through spitting. And this they have to ensure within a period of one month ending October last, the order said.
The court has asked the railway magistrates to impose a fine of not less than Rs 5,000 in their random checking in case any person is found violating the said orders. The orders of the court that has reached Railway Board also made it clear that the toilets in all the trains/coaches have to be cleaned after every two hours.
Interestingly such directives came to the fore after a petition was filed by one Pankaj Miglani against the Indian Railways seeking help of the judiciary to direct the authorities concerned to make efforts to ensure Naini-Doon Jan Shatabdi Express runs daily and at a desired timings.
Miglani sought that the train leaves Kathgodam for Dehradun in the evening and leaves Dehradun for Kathgodam in the early morning. He also desired that there be a new rake and a dedicated AC first class in the train.
During the technical argument between the judges and top rail officials, the rail authorities expressed their concern that the movement of certain trains would be adversely affected, if the time-table is changed for one particular train. The court, however, said that the Railways can make extra efforts and do the requested changes. “We also permit both the DRMs to get clarification from the Chairman of the Railway Board in larger public interest,” the judges said.
DRM Moradabad AK Singhal and DRM Izzatnagar Dinesh Kumar Singh vowed in presence of the judges that the timings of the said train will be looked into and AC bogies of ‘Ramnagar-Chandigarh Weekly Superfast Intercity Express’ train would be replaced within 72 hours of the orders passed on September 26. The DRM Izzatnagar also agreed to upgrade AC Ist Class coach of Ranikhet Express within a period of one month time.
“The Railway Administration is also directed to replace all the damaged windowpanes of the trains within a period of one month from today,” said the court.
On the issue of cleanliness, the DRMs assured the court that various circulars issued by the Railway Board from time to time are being followed in letter and spirit, as far as the cleanliness inside the bogies and outside the bogies are concerned.
“We can take judicial notice of the fact that, though sincere efforts are being made by the Railway Administration, but still the bogies from inside and outside are not cleaned regularly. The platforms are also littered with garbage. The Railway Administration has not taken any steps to remove the stray dogs from the platforms. Begging on the platforms is also a serious issue,” observed the court.