Detaining person forcefully by Railway Personnel without giving an opportunity to unload the luggage would constitute ‘deficiency of Service’

Station Master, Berhampore & 3 Ors. Vs Aditya Kumar Saha (NCDRC Delhi)

Conclusion: In present facts of the case the NATIONAL CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL COMMISSION NEW DELHI (NCDRC) observed that Railway Personnel were liable for ‘deficiency of Service’ when the Complainant was detained forcefully from the train without letting him to unload his luggage due to which the luggage was lost and the Complainant have to bear the financial loss.

Facts: In present facts of the case, the Revision Petition was filed under Section 21(b) of Consumer Protection Act, 1986 against the impugned Order dated 13.02.2019 passed by the State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, West Bengal, vide which the Appeal filed by the Petitioners was partly allowed.

Brief facts of the case was that the Complainant/Respondent booked four bags of Chappals costing Rs.58,480/- from Bethuadahari to Lalgola vide luggage ticket No. 292716 dated 27.09.2014 as he used to supply the Chappals to various shops at Lalgola Market for his livelihood. The Complainant had a monthly vendor ticket and he boarded the Lalgola passenger train in the Luggage Van. When the Lalgola passenger train reached Berhampore Station, the Petitioner No. 2 forcibly detained the Complainant from the Luggage Van without his four bags of Chappals despite repeated requests by the Complainant to unload his luggage. Petitioner No. 2 assured him that his luggage will be returned by the Railway Authorities. Thereafter Petitioner No. 2 and his subordinate slapped the Complainant as a result of which his spectacles fell and broke. The Petitioner No. 2 and his subordinate then put the Complainant in a lock-up and demanded Rs.700/- to release him. The Complainant then informed his son by telephone about the incident and the Complainant was released after his son made the payment to Petitioner No. 2. No proper receipt was provided against the said payment. After being released, the Complainant sent his son to Lalgola to search for the four bags but he could not find them anywhere. The Complainant met several staff of R.P.F. regarding the same but they all denied any information about it. He then lodged an FIR at Berhampore vide G.D.E. No. 1153/2014 dated 28.09.2014 and also lodged Complaint before the Petitioner No. 3. That even after a long period of time, the Railway officials neither took any initiative to find the luggage nor provided any proper reply. Aggrieved by the deficiency of service, negligence and mental agony caused to the Complainant by the Petitioners, he filed his Complaint before the District Consumer Redressal Forum, Murshidabad.

The District Forum vide its Order dated 30.03.2017 allowed the Complaint. Aggrieved by the Order of the District Forum, the Petitioners filed Appeal before the State Commission. The State Commission partly allowed the Appeal of the Petitioners vide impugned Order dated 13.02.2019. The relevant extracts of the Order of the State Commission are set out as below –

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