The Delhi State Consumer Commission has upheld an order directing Northern Railway to pay ₹1.45 lakh to a passenger whose bag was stolen from a reserved train coach after two unauthorised persons entered the compartment. The commission rejected the railway’s argument that it was not responsible because the luggage remained in the passenger’s personal custody.
The case concerned Ajay Kumar, who was travelling from Delhi to Patna on the Mahananda Express on June 7, 2014. According to the report, two unidentified intruders entered his coach at Old Delhi railway station and fled with his trolley bag. The bag contained sarees, jewellery and clothes. Kumar initially valued the contents at ₹12 lakh, while the district consumer commission later ordered payment of ₹1.20 lakh with 9% annual interest from September 7, 2017, along with ₹25,000 as compensation.
The Delhi State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, headed by president Justice Sangeeta Dhingra Sehgal and member Bimla Kumari, upheld the district commission’s order. Northern Railway had challenged that order before the state commission on April 16, 2024.
The commission’s reasoning centred on passenger security rather than solely on the handling of personal luggage. It said the key question was whether the railway had taken adequate precautions to prevent unauthorised people from entering the coach. The commission held that the railway’s accountability arose not simply because the theft occurred, but because its failure to stop the unauthorised entry enabled the theft.
The case also highlights the long administrative trail that followed the incident. Kumar said he approached the train’s travelling ticket examiner after discovering the theft and sought the registration of a first information report. The Railway Protection Force reportedly confirmed the theft on September 7, 2014, but did not provide clear information about the FIR at that stage.
A letter dated January 22, 2015, stated that Kumar had been informed about the case through a mobile phone number. Kumar disputed this, saying the number mentioned was not his. An FIR was eventually registered on April 23, 2015. The case was declared unresolved on May 15, 2017.
Northern Railway argued that the luggage was in Kumar’s personal possession and had neither been deposited with the railway nor formally declared to it. The state commission rejected that defence, maintaining that personal custody of luggage did not by itself remove the railway’s responsibility to maintain security within the coach.
The commission’s order leaves the district commission’s compensation and interest directions intact. The decision places the emphasis on controlling unauthorised access to passenger coaches, while the report does not indicate any separate operational changes announced by Northern Railway following the ruling.
