MP News: Missed Train In 2013, 81-Year-Old Gwalior Man Wins 12-Year-Long Legal Battle Against Railways

Gwalior (Madhya Pradesh): A 81-year-old Gwalior resident won a longing legal battle against Indian Railways. What began as a two-and-a-half-hour train delay in 2013 turned into a 12-year legal battle which the elderly man won.

According to reports, the man identified as Ramsevak Gupta, a resident of Dal Bazaar, decided to raise his voice against the railway's negligence after his train was delayed.

The Madhya Pradesh State Consumer Forum accepted his plea and ordered the Railways to pay 15,000 rupees as damages. The Commission took the absence during the hearing seriously and also imposed an additional cost of 10,000 rupees.

The incident dates back to 2013, when Ramsevak Gupta was traveling with his son from Gwalior to Agra on the Shatabdi Express. He was to catch the next express train to Ahmedabad from Fort Station. However, the Shatabdi Express was held up for two and a half hours between Gwalior and Agra.

Due to this delay, he was unable to reach Agra on time. By the time the Shatabdi arrived, he had missed his train to Ahmedabad. He filed a formal written complaint with the station manager in Agra, requesting him to either refund his ticket to Ahmedabad or arrange for another train to send him to Ahmedabad.

However, the station manager flatly refused to refund his money, arguing that he had paid on an e-ticket and therefore could not refund the fare.

Gupta approached the District Consumer Dispute Resolution Commission against the railway. In response, the Railways misinformed the Commission, claiming a fire had broken out in the SLR coach of the train. This forced the train to be stopped mid-way, delaying its arrival in Agra. However, Gupta remained undeterred. He wrote and filed RTI applications.

In response to the RTI, the Railways stated that the fire hadn't broken out in the Shatabdi Express, but in the AC coach of the Rajdhani Express. He reported this fact to the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, but it was ignored and his petition dismissed. Gupta, undeterred, appealed this decision to the State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, seeking justice.

The Commission acknowledged the Railways' mistake and imposed a fine. However, the Railways appealed this decision to the National Commission on March 27, 2019, filing an appeal. Four hearings were held in the National Commission, but the appellant, the Railway officials, did not appear at any of the hearings.

After this, the Railways also withdrew its appeal. That is, the order of giving him 15 thousand rupees as compensation given by the State Consumer Commission remained intact, but the National Commission imposed an additional cost of ten thousand rupees on the Railways department for not appearing in the hearing.

“I have spent far more than what I got,” he said. “But this was never about money. It was about ensuring that ordinary citizens are not taken for granted.” said Ramsevak Gupta.