Man sent to court for not buying ₹10 ticket at train station: 'Treated like some criminal'
A Reddit user shared the story of his brother being penalised for not buying a ₹10 ticket
An Indian man claimed that his brother was asked by Railway authorities to appear in court after he failed to buy a ₹10 platfrom ticket while accompanying him to the train station. Shocked by the action, the man took to Reddit seeking help and shared his story.
In a post titled, "Court hearing for not buying a platform ticket of ₹10, Help!", the Reddit user Adarsh shared that he was supposed to board a train on a solo journey and his elder brother had come along to drop him at the platform.
"Unfortunately, he forgot to buy a platform ticket and I forgot too. But since I had a confirmed train ticket, I boarded the train and left. After my train departed, my brother was caught by the authorities for not having a platform ticket. They spoke to him and asked him to call a family member to sign some documents," he said.
He added that the officials refused to let him pay a fine and insisiting on getting his signature. "After two hours, no one else was ready to go, so my mother had to come. These ridiculous officials made her sign some documents, took their Aadhaar, and even clicked a photo of my brother with my mom. All this just for not having a Rs. 10 platform ticket? It felt like they were treating it as some kind of criminal offense," he wrote.
Take a look at the post:
He added that his brother was asked to appear at railway court after 15 days. "They said there would probably be a fine or penalty—maybe over Rs. 1,000 or even more," he added.
The user said that the Indian Railways should "focus more on maintaining clean washrooms in train coaches". "That’s far more important than this nonsense platform ticket rule. Also, why don’t they install a metro-style gate system at station entrances? If such a system existed, no one could forget to buy a platform ticket, even someone in a hurry or someone going through mental distress," he added.
The post divided users on Reddit, many of whom agreed that the court appearance was too much for not buying a ₹10 ticket. "Though he broke the law this is excessive. Try tagging the Minister in X and see," said one of them.
Others, however, argued that not buying a platform ticket was an offense and anyone commits the offense should be punished. "Your brother didn't buy a platform ticket and accessed the platform illegally, i.e. without a ticket. IR is authorised to prosecute ticketless travellers and visitors. Your brother is advised to attend court and present his side. Maybe the judge will be lenient upon considering his case, especially if this is his first offense," said one user.
