Woman with confirmed train ticket arrested after stranger cancels reservation; Southern Railway told to pay Rs 2 lakh

A woman travelling with a confirmed train reservation was removed from a train at midnight and arrested by the Railway Protection Force (RPF) after her ticket was cancelled by a stranger who had mistakenly received her booking alert. The Kerala State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) has now ordered Southern Railway to pay her Rs 2 lakh in compensation.

According to a report by the Times of India, the SHRC ruling was issued by its chairperson, Justice Alexander Thomas, who held the railways responsible for both the booking error and the manner in which officials dealt with the woman after the mistake came to light.

K Jayasmitha, a native of Erumapetty in Thrissur and currently residing in Thiruvananthapuram, had booked berth 41 in coach S4 of train 16348 from Wadakkanchery to Thiruvananthapuram on July 30, 2023. She boarded the train with what she believed was a valid confirmed reservation.

However, when she reached her allotted berth, she found another passenger occupying it. The ticket examiner subsequently told her that her reservation had been cancelled online and that she would have to pay a fresh fine of Rs 500 to obtain another berth, the Times of India reported.

Jayasmitha, who was travelling alone and did not have the required amount, was unable to resolve the matter immediately. At Aluva station, she was deboarded and handed over to the RPF. She was subsequently arrested on the charge of travelling without a valid ticket.

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She was later released on bail. A subsequent railway review found that the case had been wrongly registered against her and it was withdrawn.

A departmental inquiry traced the incident to an error in the mobile number recorded during the booking process. According to the TOI report, a single digit in Jayasmitha's mobile number had been incorrectly entered in the railway system. As a result, booking-related SMS alerts were sent to another person's phone. The recipient, unaware that the reservation belonged to Jayasmitha, cancelled the ticket.

The SHRC concluded that deboarding Jayasmitha at midnight was unlawful and violated Section 139 of the Railways Act. Justice Thomas directed Southern Railway to pay Rs 2 lakh within one month. Failure to pay within six weeks would attract interest at 8% per annum.

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The commission also allowed the divisional railway manager to initiate departmental action against officials responsible and recover the compensation from them as permitted by law.

Jayasmitha further claimed that the criminal case resulted in the loss of a government contract job. The SHRC directed her to pursue that grievance with the government and asked the state's minority welfare director to examine the matter and take a decision within one month.

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