‘16 years of hearings punishment enough’

LENIENCY SHOWN

‘16 years of hearings punishment enough’

Train Ticket Black-Marketer Sentenced To One Day In Court

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Ahmedabad:07.09.2021

A local court handed down a minor punishment — sitting in the courtroom for one day — for the blackmarketing of railway tickets after observing that the accused regularly attended court hearings for 16 years and this itself was punishment enough for him.

The accused’s behaviour of religiously attending proceedings for 16 years paid him at the end of the trial. There were in all 62 hearings and adjournments during the course of the trial.

The case involved Ashok Bhumihar (39), a resident of Delhi Darwaza, who was caught buying railway tickets from the reservation counter on March 25, 2004. Railway police force lodged a complaint against him under Section 143 of the Railways Act, which provides for ‘penalty for unauthorised carrying on of business of procuring and supplying of railway tickets’. It entails punishment of up to three years and a fine of up to Rs 10,000. Bhumihar was booked because he was found in possession of tickets without a licence to sell them.

The accused denied the charges and claimed that he had bought the tickets for relatives. However, the court did not believe him and held him guilty of black-marketing. The court awarded him punishment on September 3 but rejected the prosecution’s demand for harsh punishment.

While holding him guilty, additional chief metropolitan magistrate B R Rajput said, “Because of such persons, railway tickets are black-marketed and poor and needy passengers do not get reservations on trains and cannot travel in proper conditions. If this black-marketing is not stopped, many passengers will have to continue to face hardships on daily basis.” However, the court was lenient on Bhumihar. It ordered him only to sit till the rising or the court (TRC) and pay a Rs 5,000 fine. The court said, “This is a 2004 case and the accused remained present for the hearings on a regular basis. His presence in court for 16 years is punishment enough.”