After an arduous legal struggle of 8 years, a resident of New Delhi has been compensated 1 lakh rupees because her belongings were stolen during a train journey in 2016.
8-Year Legal Battle: Passenger Wins Compensation After Train Theft
Jaya Kumari was travelling on the Malwa Express from New Delhi to Indore in 2016 and she discovered during her journery that her bag was missing which contained a laptop, wristwatch, jewellery, and shawls.
She reported that despite her efforts, she encountered significant obstacles in registering an FIR due to the reluctance of railway authorities.
After a period of 8 long years, finally justice arrived for her since a Delhi consumer court recently ruled in her favor, directing the Railways to compensate her with Rs 1.08 lakh. The court held the Railways responsible for “negligence and deficiency in services.”
As per the District Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission (Central District), the Railways failed to address Kumari’s complaint that an unauthorized person had entered the reserved coach and stolen her belongings.
There was contention from Railways’ that it was Kumari who was responsible for it since she was negligent in safeguarding her possessions.
Train Thefts on the Rise
As per the order which came on June 3, the commission stated, “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 an appropriate enquiry or investigation, she suffered all kinds of inconvenience and harassment to pursue her legal rights.”
The court, while highlighting broader concerns about railway security, emphasized that the theft could have been prevented if not for the Railways’ negligence or deficiency in services.
As per the activist, Chandra Shekhar Gaur, the statistics that were fetched from an RTI inquiry, the issue of theft is quite prevalent in Delhi trains.
If we were to go by numbers, then as per Railways the reported theft cases have risen from 2,831 incidents in 2022 to 3,909 by November 30, 2023.
When it comes to snatching of personal items, then that too has surged from 19 in 2021 to 85 in 2022 and 96 in 2023.
With these cases so prevalent, this serves as a significant legal precedent for passengers affected by theft on trains, highlighting the responsibility of railway authorities to ensure passenger safety and address grievances promptly.
Hopefully the verdict goes in a direction of railways taking prompt measures to prevent such evil deeds.
