Karnataka High Court dismisses plea to disband present Railway Tatkal system

The Karnataka High Court on Friday dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) petition seeking directions to disband the tatkal and emergency quota schemes for Railway tickets [Gowrishankar S v. Union of India].

The plea before the Court also sought reforms when it comes to ticket cancellation and refund for cancelled tickets.

The matter was listed for the first time before a Bench of Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice CM Poonacha today.

According to case details available on the High Court website, the petitioner had been permitted to appear personally to argue the matter.

However, since neither the petitioner nor any counsel was present in court when the case was called for hearing this morning, the Court dismissed the petition.

"None appears for the petitioner, dismissed," said the Court.

The plea filed by one Gowrishankar S sought directions to disband the existing tatkal system and emergency quota schemes put in place by the Indian Railways on grounds that they were implemented through executive orders without any legislative backing.

The petitioner called for directions so that new schemes with proper legislative clearance are introduced under Sections 60 and 199 of the Railways Act.

Section 60 empowers the Central government to make rules on various issues concerning the Railways, including those for train reservations, train ticket refunds and cancellations. Section 199 requires that any rule made under the Act be laid before Parliament before it can be enforced.

The plea also called for an amendment to the Railways Passengers (Cancellation and Refund of Fare) Rules, 2015, to ensure compliance with Section 51 (2) of the Railways Act. Section 51 (2) deals with scenarios where train traveller has to travel in a carriage of lower class than the class for which s/he booked his ticket, because no accommodation is available for the carriage class the ticket was booked for. In such cases, the provision requires that the traveller be refunded the difference in the fares between the ticket s/he booked for and the ticket for the carriage class in which s/he actually travelled.

The petitioner sought a change in the 2015 rules so that they are in line with Section 51 (2) when it comes to:

i) Granting full refunds for waiting list and RAC tickets when the accommodation booked is not provided;

ii) refunding the fare difference for RAC passengers who are not provided sleeping accommodation;

iii) removing arbitrary time restrictions for applying for cancellation and refunds; and

iv) removing the limitation of 4 hours or the preparation of railway charts for refund eligibility.