Bombay HC nullifies Consumer Forum’s directive, Railways not liable for reimbursement

The Bombay High Court in the case of Station Superintendent & Anr. v Surender Bhola observed and has held that the theft of personal belongings of a Passenger is not deficiency of service.
The bench comprising of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah in the case observed and has set aside the orders passed by the Consumer forum, wherein the court directed the Railways to reimburse the stolen amount of cash to the Passenger.
The bench in the case observed and has held that the said fails to understand as to how the theft could be said to be in any way a deficiency in service by the Railways and if the passenger in the case is not being able to protect his own belongings and the Railways cannot be held responsible. Facts of the case:
The Respondent or Passenger, Mr. Surender Bhola in the case was travelling through Indian Railways train and was carrying Rs. 1 Lakh in cash in a belt tied around his waist and the cash got stolen from the Passenger during the train journey. In the present case, the petitioner filed the claim before the District Consumer Forum, wherein seeking reimbursement of the stolen amount from the Railways. Thus, it was also argued before the court that the theft of money had taken place due to deficiency in service provided by Railways.
Therefore, the said claim was allowed District Consumer Forum and has directed the Railways to reimburse Rs. 1 Lakh to the Passenger. Thus, the State Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission and the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, NCDRC dismissed the appeal and the court upheld the order of District Consumer Forum.
Supreme Court Judgement:
The bench in the case observed and has opined that the theft of personal belongings of the Passenger does not fall of within ‘deficiency of service’ by Railways.
The court stated that the said court fails to understand as to how the theft could be said to be in any way a deficiency in service by the Railway and if the passenger in the case is not able to protect his own belongings, the Railways cannot be held responsible.
Accordingly, the bench allowed the appeal and has set aside the orders passed by the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, State Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission, and the District Consumer Forum.
The counsels, Mr. Rajan Kumar Chourasia, Adv. Mr. Merusagar Samantaray, Adv. Ms. SwekshaAdv. Mr. Amrish Kumar, AOR Mrs. Anil Katiyar, AOR appeared for the appellant.