Generating Tatkal Tickets For Out-Of-Turn Passengers Without Collecting Fare Is Misconduct: Madras High Court

The Madras High Court recently held that generating Tatkal tickets for out-of-turn passengers without collecting fare would be misconduct under the Railway Service Conduct Rules. The court thus found an employee guilty of issuing tickets to third parties and violating the norms for issuing tickets. The bench of Justice CV Karthikeyan and Justice K Kumaresh Babu observed that the employee had generated tickets based on reservation forms, which were not handed over to him across the counter and which were collected by him before his duty time. The court thus concluded that he had violated the provisions of the Railways Service Conduct Rules. “These admitted facts would indicate that the first respondent had generated tickets based on reservation forms without being handed over to him across the counter and that such reservation forms had been collected by him in advance before the start of his duty at 8.00 am. It would only mean that he had at the behest of some individuals and violated the norms for issuance of tickets,” the court said. The court noted that, as per the sequence of events, there was a probability that the delinquency was committed by the employee. The court added that in service law jurisprudence, there was no need to prove the alleged delinquency through strict proof, and it was enough that the delinquency was driven by probabilities of the case. The court was hearing a petition filed by the General Manager, Southern Railways and others challenging an order or the Central Administrative Tribunal. It was alleged that the employee, who was working as an Enquiry cum Reservation Clerk. On January 8, 2020, a preventive check was conducted on a complaint that the officers were accepting a bunch of applications from touts, overlooking the priority of passengers waiting in the queue. On inspection, it was found that 8 Tatkal tickets were issued, but no cash had been collected, and there was a shortage of Rs. 18,051. Thus, noting that the employee had contravened the provisions of the Rules and conducted himself in a manner offending the rights of general public, he was charged with a memo. Following a full-fledged enquiry, a punishment of a reduction of pay for 2 stages for a period of 40 months was imposed. The employee appealed and the punishment was modified to a reduction of pay by two stages for a period of 6 years, after which the seniority and grade pay would be restored with normal increments. The employee challenged this order before the Central Administrative Tribunal, which set aside the entire proceedings and remitted the matter back and directed to issue a fresh charge sheet. The State submitted that the employee had acted in a tainted manner be receiving reservation forms from third parties who did not stand in the queue. It was also submitted that the employee had admitted to generating the tickets in favour of person and had failed to collect cash or vouchers from concerned person which would show that there is a violation. The State argued that there was no procedural lapse or violation of rules on the part of the disciplinary authorities The state thus argued that the tribunal had misconstrued itself on facts in holding that the entire disciplinary proceedings was vitiated. The employee, on the other hand, argued that the charges against him were vague, cryptic, and baseless and not in conformity with the Provisions of the Railway Servants Discipline and Appeal Rules. He argued that there were no independent witnesses to support the delinquency alleged against him. He argued that there was no application of mind and the entire disciplinary proceedings and order of punishment was colourable exercise of power which smacked of arbitrariness. The employee argued that the tribunal had analysed all the issues and found that the entire disciplinary proceedings were in violation of the rules and procedures and had interfered with the punishment. He thus argued that there was no necessity to interfere with the order of the Tribunal. The court noted that the employee had not given any explanation as to why the tickets generated by him were not given to the passengers in the queue, and why he failed to collect the value of the tickets also. The court noted that the employee had given tickets to persons out of turn and thus committed delinquency. The court also did not find any procedural violations. Thus, the court allowed the plea by the State and set aside the order of the CAT remanding the matter for fresh chargesheet. However, the court modified the appellate tribunal's order, reducing the pay reduction from 6 years to 3 years. Counsel for Petitioner: Mr. AR. L. Sundaresan ASGI Assisted by Mr. AR. Sakthivel Counsel for Respondent: Mr. L. Chandrakumar Case Title: Union of India and Others v. B Shankar Kumar Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Mad) 84 Case No: Writ Petition No.22359 of...

Generating Tatkal Tickets For Out-Of-Turn Passengers Without Collecting Fare Is Misconduct: Madras High Court

Upasana Sajeev

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