In a striking rebuke of the Indian Railways’ misuse of its VIP quota system, the national consumer disputes redressal commission (NCDRC) has upheld a Rs60,000 compensation award against Northern Railway for unilaterally altering the confirmed train reservations of justice (retd) Dilip Raosaheb Deshmukh and his family—allegedly due to the presence of the word 'justice' in the booking form.
Calling it a clear deficiency in service, the NCDRC bench of Dr Inder Jit Singh (presiding member) and Dr Sadhna Shanker (member) dismissed Northern Railways’ revision plea and reaffirmed the rulings of both the district and state consumer forums. It held the railway authorities responsible for the mental agony, physical discomfort and humiliation caused to the former chairman of the company law board and his family during their 2012 train journey from Datia to Bhopal.
"The contention that the word 'justice' triggered auto-detection for head office (HO) quota allotment is untenable, particularly when no such seats were allotted at the time of original booking. The inconvenience suffered by the respondents—especially justice Deshmukh, a senior citizen with medical limitations—due to the last-minute change in coach and the physical exertion in shifting luggage during the journey, clearly establishes deficiency in service," the bench says.
The incident occurred on 28 November 2012, when justice (retd) Deshmukh, his wife Prerna and daughter Shraddha boarded the Chhattisgarh Express, with confirmed reservations in coach B3—seats 29, 30, and 41. To their shock, they discovered that the coach doors were locked from inside at Datia station. In a panic, they managed to enter through a vestibule with the help of a police escort.
But the distress didn’t end there.
Inside, the train ticket examiner (TTE) informed them that their names were missing from the reservation chart for coach B3, and the assigned seats had been rebooked for other passengers boarding from Vidisha. Left standing helplessly with luggage in a moving train, it took further verification before the TTE found that they had been reassigned to coach B2 under a different PNR—without any prior notice or consent.
Justice Deshmukh, a senior citizen with a slipped disc, was compelled to physically shift luggage between coaches while the train was in motion—causing pain and trauma that later required medical treatment.
The railway authorities later claimed the change was triggered automatically due to the mention of 'justice' in the booking which led to reassignment under the HO (head office) quota. A new PNR was generated, and the original reservation was voided. However, no such request had been made by the Deshmukhs, nor were they informed of the change.
In response to their legal notice, railway officials admitted to the seat change but pinned the blame on the passengers for failing to check charts or confirm details on helpline 139—arguments that both the Delhi district consumer disputes redressal forum and Delhi state consumer disputes redressal commission rejected.
The district forum awarded Rs50,000 as compensation and Rs10,000 as litigation costs to the Deshmukhs, holding Northern Railway guilty of altering confirmed tickets without approval, and for its insensitive handling of a senior citizen’s travel discomfort.
The Railways' petition to NCDRC sought to overturn these rulings, arguing that final charts are subject to change, passengers should verify their status and allotment under VIP quotas is permissible.
However, the NCDRC bench rejected these arguments in a detailed 10-page order delivered on 22 May 2025. “Confirmed reservations were altered without the complainants’ knowledge or consent and no application was made for allotment under the HO quota.”
It added that the Northern Railways violated its own protocols—including circulars from 1998 and 2010—which mandate informing VIP passengers when seat allocations are changed under the HO quota.
Further, the tribunal dismissed Northern Railways' jurisdictional challenge, noting that the ticket was booked from Sarojini Nagar and the reservation change occurred at the Northern Railway HO in Baroda House, both within the jurisdiction of the New Delhi district consumer forum.
The case has spotlighted the potential for misuse in the railways’ handling of VIP travel privileges. The NCDRC’s ruling warns that automated or manual overrides under VIP quotas—absent passenger consent—constitute service lapses and will invite legal accountability.
Importantly, NCDRC also debunked Northern Railways’ assertion that confirmed reservations must be rechecked by passengers at the last minute, affirming that confirmed ticket holders are entitled to rely on their bookings without additional diligence.
In conclusion, the commission found no 'legal infirmity, perversity, or jurisdictional error' in the lower forums’ orders and dismissed the Railways’ petition.
The case now stands closed, but it offers a cautionary tale on the unintended fallout of excessive VIP culture, where even privileged tags like 'justice' can result in unexpected and embarrassing public ordeals when used carelessly or without protocol.
(Revision Petition No290 of 2017 Date: 22 May 2025)
While I am sorry for the discomfort suffered by the individual, it is high time that these obsequiousness stops.
Unless a VIP has asked for special assistance in booking a seat, an automatic reassignment to a probably superior seat is servile and as in this case counterproductive.
When will Indians learn that every individual has dignity whether or not they have some higher social status.