Why do you sell more tickets than seats?: HC slams Railways

Issues raised by the court

- Shruti Kakkar

NEW DELHI: The Delhi high court on Wednesday reprimanded the Indian Railways for selling tickets far beyond the capacity of train coaches, stating that the February 15 stampede at New Delhi railway station — which claimed at least 18 lives — was an "unfortunate", but "avoidable" tragedy if the Railways had adhered to its own rules.

A bench of chief justice DK Upadhyay and justice Tushar Rao Gedela, while hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by NGO Arth Vidhi, questioned the Railways for neglecting legal provisions that mandate the fixing of the number of passengers per compartment.

The judges pointed to Section 57 of the Railways Act, 1989, which mandates that railway authorities determine and display the maximum number of passengers permitted per coach.

"If you fix the number of passengers to be accommodated in a coach, then why do you sell more tickets than that number? That's the problem," the court told solicitor general Tushar Mehta, who represented the Railways.