Theft of personal belongings of passengers is not a ‘deficiency of service’ by Railways, says the Supreme Court

The vacation bench of the Supreme Court opined that the theft of a passenger’s personal belongings is not a ‘deficiency of service’ by Railways. The matter was heard by the bench comprising Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Justice Vikram Nath. The Supreme Court ordered to set aside the Consumer Forum’s order whereby Railways were directed to compensate the stolen amount of cash to the Passengers. While giving the order, the bench stated that “We fail to understand as to how the theft could be said to be in any way a deficiency in service by the Railways. If the passenger is not able to protect his own belongings, the Railways cannot be held responsible.”

This case was related to passenger Mr. Surender Bhola, who was traveling through Indian Railways and was carrying one Lakh rupees cash in a belt tied around his waist. During the train journey, the cash was stolen from him. A claim was filed by the passenger before the District Consumer Forum seeking reimbursement for the amount stolen from the Railways. The argument was made that deficiency in service by Railways lead to the theft of money. The claim was then allowed by the District Consumer Forum which ordered the railways to compensate the money to the passenger. Moreover, The State Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission and the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission dismissed the appeal.