The Hindu : New Delhi News : Railway booking clerk's plea in corruption case dismissed

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Railway booking clerk's plea in corruption case dismissed

Staff Reporter

His service was terminated after he was caught overcharging passengers

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has dismissed a petition by a Railway booking clerk who was caught overcharging passengers at Hazrat Nizamuddin railway station here in the Capital six years ago.

The clerk had challenged his dismissal from service following his indictment by an inquiry officer and later its upholding by a Railway Tribunal. He had been dismissed from service on the basis of his statement recorded by a vigilance team which had caught him overcharging a decoy passenger in the presence of shadow witnesses. The inquiry officer and later the Tribunal had treated his statement as his confession of the crime.

In the statement, the accused had claimed that he demanded and accepted an excess amount for three tickets booked by the decoy passenger by mistake as his attention at that time was diverted to another passenger who was inquiring about the fare of a ticket.

He further said that due to a rush at the counter, he had demanded and accepted the amount that he had quoted to the other passenger from the decoy passenger.

Though he pointed out several loopholes in the trap laid out by the vigilance officers -- such as there being no gazetted officer in the raiding party as per the Railway Vigilance Manual, he not being allowed to cross-examine the decoy passenger, and that the witnesses to the crime were stock and interested witnesses -- the High Court took no notice of those.

Though the Court disagreed with the holding of the Tribunal treating the statement of the accused as confession of his crime, it held him guilty on the basis of the way he tried to defend himself by taking the excuse of his attention being diverted by the other passenger.

The Court also admitted the evidence of the witnesses saying that their evidence was credible as no mala fide had been alleged against them.

“We conclude by concurring with the final view taken by the Tribunal, but not its reasoning,” said a Division Bench of the Court comprising Justice Pradeep Nandrajog and Justice M.C. Garg.

The Court also dismissed a plea of the petitioner to reduce his punishment saying that “the ugly head of corruption rears itself repeatedly and at the railway counters things are far from satisfactory”.

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