E-Paper
Travelling in trains without tickets may not attract jail term
The move, a part of Centre’s plans to decriminalise a bunch of Indian laws and provisions in order to ease the burden on courts, also involves removing offences such as begging as an illegal activity from the Railways Act of 1989.
The Railways is planning to remove provisions for imprisonment from several minor offences, making acts such as travelling without a ticket or riding on the footboard punishable only with penalties.
The move, a part of Centre’s plans to decriminalise a bunch of Indian laws and provisions in order to ease the burden on courts, also involves removing offences such as begging as an illegal activity from the Railways Act of 1989.
The ministry has now begun a comprehensive review of all provisions of the law and is likely to make is easier to prosecute minor violations through “compounding with the objective of preventing harassment of citizens, de-clogging the criminal justice system and promoting ease of doing business,” according to an official aware of the development.
Compounding refers to the practice of using on-spot fines.
“The cabinet secretary had asked all ministries to review such minor offences. We are under the process of reviewing existing laws for the ministry,” said Arun Kumar, the director general of the Railway Protection Force, the law enforcement agency with jurisdiction over the Indian railways network. It passes on suspects to the Government Railway Police (GRP) that investigates and prosecutes an offence.
The security of passengers and their belongings in trains and on railway premises is the shared responsibility of the RPF and the GRP. The responsibility for arrest and prosecution for minor offences falls with the RPF.
Cabinet secretary Rajiv Gauba had asked for the review in a letter to all ministries and departments on June 1.
At present, carrying out an offence while in a train, a railway station or on railway property is punishable either by a fine, jail term or both.
Among the offences that will no longer include a jail term are pulling the alarm chain for no reason, travelling without authorisation, trespassing and riding in reserved coaches. According to the official quoted in the first instance, 16 sections under the act have been identified to be diluted.
Some of these are: Sections 137 (travelling without proper pass/authority), 141 (alarm chain pulling), 144 (hawking), 145 (committing nuisance), 147 (trespass and failure to desist from trespass), 157(altering/defacing pass/ticket), 159(disobedience of lawful instructions by drivers in railway area), 162 (unauthorized travel in ladies coaches), 166 (penalties for littering) and 167 (smoking in passenger area).
The penalty for travelling without a ticket at present, for instance, could be a fine of up to ₹1,000 or a prison term that extends to six months.
“The ministry has sought comments from railway officers for the proposal,” the official said. There are nearly 37 penal offences under Railway Act at present.
According to the Railway Protection Force (RPF) the number of chain pulling incidents reported in 2019 was 55,373, while 45,784 were arrested and 43,951 prosecuted.
According to National Crime Records Bureau’s crime data for 2018 the RPF registered 10,94,684 cases and crimes in railways registered by GRP stood at 1,01,638 cases registered.
Law enforcement veterans said decriminalising petty crimes may not be a good idea but making them compoundable is a good move. “As a police officer I will not be in favour of decriminalising petty offences but making the offences on the spot fines and compounding the offence then and there is a good move. I support this,” said former Delhi police commissioner Neeraj Kumar.
“Decriminalisation of minor offences, including those of the Railways Act is a step in the right direction. However, there are a couple of concerns - Firstly, the decision to decriminalise should be based on robust evidence-based research of the implementation of each legislation rather than blanket decriminalisation of minor offences across multiple legislations. Secondly, there are more than 350 central statutes that stipulate imprisonment. If the objective is also to unclog the criminal justice system and prisons and reduce the unnecessary incarceration of people, then the government has to look beyond these legislations focused primarily at economic offences,” said Raja Bagga, senior researcher, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative.
