Indian Railways told to pay Chandigarh woman Rs 50,000 for her baggage stolen from train

The complainant, Seema Arora of Chandigarh, had alleged that on July 27, 2017, she had booked a 2AC ticket from the Railway Reservation Counter, at High court, Chandigarh for her August 27, 2017 journey from Chandigarh to Shirdi.

Arora said that she had boarded the train from Chandigarh with one bag along with five of her colleagues. The train reached New Delhi Railway Station around 11 pm, and Arora stated that she had dinner and went to sleep around 1 am.

At 6 am on August 28, the train suddenly was stopped after slight chaos in her compartment where a number of passengers complained that a theft had taken place and their luggage had been stolen. The complainant immediately looked for her luggage and found it to be missing as well. She then lodged a police complaint with Railway Police, who registered an FIR. It was further submitted that due to said theft, the complainant was left with only her mobile phone and a pair of slippers only.

Arora, in her plea, also stated that she is suffering from a disease called “Aclasia Cardia” — a disease which affects the food pipe — and was being treated for the same at PGI, Chandigarh, for the last many years. Without proper medicines, Arora said that she had to face a lot of difficulties in eating food and drinking anything. Arora pleaded that due to the theft of her luggage from the train, she not only suffered the loss of her valuables and essential medicines but was also handicapped and had to go through a stage of starvation due to no fault of her.

The Ministry of Railways and DRM, Ambala Division, Northern Railways (OPs), in reply submitted that alleged theft has not occurred due to the negligence or deficiency of the railways, rather it is the carelessness and negligence of the complainant. It denied that there was a provision to lock the luggage under the berths in a compartment and said that railway authorities always display on their timetable boards, railway coaches, platforms, and reservation centres about passengers being responsible for their own luggage.

The Commission after hearing the matter held that “It is obvious that a person, who is traveling for a week is supposed to carry necessary belongings — including clothing and other accessories required for such period. It is a matter of common parlance that a person who has left with no luggage, clothing, etc. for her one-week-long stay is forced to make necessary purchases, so the loss that occurred on this account is an additional one. Thus, it is well established that the complainant suffered due to deficient act of the railways causing her mental agony, harassment, and financial loss.”

The commission thus directed the Ministry of Railways and Northern Railway authorities to reimburse the loss suffered by the complainant, which was quantified to the tune of Rs 35000, and to pay an additional Rs 15000 as compensation and cost of litigation, to the complainant.