Train berths sold like vegetables: Court raps ticket checkers after passenger death

The Calcutta High Court made the observation while hearing a case linked to the 2009 death of a train passenger who was drugged and robbed after getting a berth by paying a ticket checker.

In Short

• Calcutta High Court urges action on TTEs selling vacant berths illegally
• Case linked to passenger death after drugging by criminals following TTE bribery
• Court censures police for poor investigation, missing forensic reports

The Calcutta High Court has asked the general managers of all railway zones in the country to ensure the maximum available penalties against travelling ticket examiners, or TTEs, who sell vacant berths illegally, saying some of them do so like "vegetables in a market".

The court made the observation while hearing a case linked to the death of a train passenger who was drugged and robbed after getting a berth by paying a TTE.

A division bench led by Justice Rajasekhar Mantha said the conduct of TTEs had led to the crime and noted that one of the two passengers died after being given a sedative.

The bench partly allowed the appeals of the two convicted men, holding that the prosecution had proved only the charge relating to causing hurt by poison or intoxicating substances, and not the other charges including murder.

The case relates to an incident in February 2009, when Arun Chakraborty and Sunil Kumar Das boarded the Teesta Torsa Express from New Jalpaiguri to Sealdah with unreserved tickets.

According to the court, they followed a practice they were used to and got berths after bribing the TTE concerned. They were later drugged by two criminals and robbed of their valuables. Chakraborty survived after nine days in hospital, while Das, who had comorbidities, died.

In its judgment delivered last week, the bench, also comprising Justice Biswaroop Choudhury, said, "This court is constrained to refer a copy of the judgment to the general manager of the Eastern Railway and other railways (zones) in the country to ensure the maximum available penalties for TTEs who sell empty berths in trains like vegetables in a market."

It added that such conduct resulted in the death of a passenger who was "only a victim of theft" and said, "There are several cases galore not reported that have, in fact, resulted in very serious medical consequences for victims of petty theft." The bench further held, "The origin of such crimes is in the hands of the TTEs."

The court also criticised the police for what it called "several loopholes" in the investigation and prosecution.

"It is expected that the police authorities take more sincere, diligent and devoted steps to conduct investigations so that the life and liberty of travelling passengers are more secure in the Indian Railways."

The bench noted that the investigating officer had not collected the forensic science laboratory report of the victim's viscera and said there was no evidence to show that the viscera had been sent to the laboratory at all, adding, "The lapse on the part of the investigating officer is rather inexcusable."

The judgment said the dereliction of duty by the TTE who allotted berths to the two passengers without prior reservation, as well as by the other TTEs before and after him on the journey to Sealdah, was "a matter of grave and serious concern".

The court observed, "TTEs often allot berths at the earnest request of passengers who willingly pay money therefor," and held that lapses by TTEs in the Indian Railways were primarily the reason the crime took place.

Aloke Ghosh and Gopal Mistry had been convicted by a trial court and sentenced to life imprisonment for murder under Section 302, along with seven years under Section 328, besides convictions for theft and attempt to murder of the surviving passenger, with all sentences to run concurrently.

But the high court said the appellants could at best be convicted for seven years under Section 328 and that the charges under the other sections "are clearly not proved".

It noted that Ghosh and Mistry are now on bail after serving 10 and 16 years respectively, and directed that they be set at liberty on execution of a bond to the satisfaction of the trial court for six months. The two had been convicted on July 10, 2017, and sentenced the following day by the Sealdah sessions court.

The high court's ruling linked the death and robbery on the train to the illegal allotment of berths by TTEs, while also finding major gaps in the police investigation. It ordered stricter action against offending TTEs across railway zones and modified the conviction of the two appellants to the charge the court found proved.

- Ends