Advocate Sundeep Badana, who filed a PIL to restore the concessions for senior citizens in railways, presented his case before the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court on Wednesday. Badana argued that the Railway Board, has the authority to grant or withdraw concessions for senior citizens and other specified categories.
He stressed that any authority below the Railway Board lacks the jurisdiction to alter this facility. This legal move comes as Badana approached the High Court for the second time after Indian Railways failed to reinstate the concessions, which were withdrawn during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.
During the hearing, Badana, appearing in person, contended that the Railway Board has conferred concessions in railway fares on certain categories of passengers. He highlighted that this facility was withdrawn from March 19, 2020, except for four categories of Divyangjan and eleven patient categories. Badana claimed that the Railway Board’s decision on this matter has not been placed on record.
Deputy Solicitor General Nandesh Deshpande, representing the Union government, requested two weeks to file an additional affidavit in response to the petitioner’s contentions. The division bench, comprising Justices Nitin Sambre and Abhay Mantri, adjourned the hearing till January 17. Badana referred to the HC’s December 14, 2022, order, which had given a three-month deadline for the respondents to decide on restoring the concessions. With no decision taken, Badana was compelled to approach the HC again.
In the earlier arguments, the respondents clarified that they already providing a subsidy on passenger services, offering a subsidy worth Rs. 59,000 crore in 2019, equivalent to 53% for every passenger. Badana, citing an RTI reply, highlighted that the railways earned 6,112 crore from the cancellation of regular, waitlisted, and RAC tickets. He asserted that the Railway Board was not considering the revenue generated from ticket cancellations.