The Bombay High Court Single Judge Bench Justice Bharati Dangre granted anticipatory bail to a railway travelling ticket examiner (TTE) who was arrested for urinating near a passenger’s berth in the middle of the night on the condition that he deposit money for the set – up of a water cooler at Thane railway station.
The Court noted that the accused had expressed regret and had decided on his own to donate INR 25,000 to the railways so that the money might be utilised to build the water cooler facility.
“It can be said that a ticket checker, a custodian of railway, has engaged in an act which is unpardonable. The act may not require custody, but going by his conduct, the custodian is expected to not behave in an obnoxious way by urinating at the door especially when he was in inebriated state,”
The Court Noted
The Court opined that the accused deserved protection and ordered that if the applicant was detained, he be freed on bail after depositing the agreed-upon amount.
The factual matrix stated that a female traveler heard water dripping near her bunk during a long-distance train journey and discovered that someone was urinating near her sleeper.
Her fellow passengers witnessed the guy zipping his pants while she was calling for assistance. One of them even took a video of the incident. It was then discovered that the perpetrator was a TTE.
An FIR was filed with the Karjat railway police based on the passenger’s complaint. Witnesses’ statements were also collected, and the footage was reviewed.
“The video was put across, the applicants seem to be in an inebriated state, the still photographs show he was apologising to the person sitting at his feet repenting,”
The Court observed while granting bail.
