Plea In Supreme Court Seeks Additional Stop For 'Vande Bharat' Train In Kerala

A lawyer has moved the Supreme Court against the Kerala High Court's dismissal of the plea seeking issuance of a direction to the Southern Railways to permit a stop for the 'Vande Bharat Train Service' at Tirur Railway Station in Malappuram District.

The Division Bench of the Kerala High Court comprising Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas and Justice C. Jayachandran, while dismissing the plea, had observed that there was no public interest espoused in the writ petition, and that providing stops for a train was a matter that had to be determined by the Railways, and that no person had a vested right to demand the same.  

The Bench in its Order dated April 28, 2023, had categorically laid down that if stops were to be provided on demand by public, the term express train would itself become a misnomer. 

It is challenging the same that the lawyer, P.T. Sheejish has filed the present Special Leave Petition (SLP).

The SLP moved through Advocate Sriram P. avers that Malappuram District is one of the most densely populated districts of the State of Kerala, with a significant number of people depending on the train service for their travel purpose . It has been submitted that as per the first schedules of train stops initially announced by the Indian railway, Tirur Railway station was allotted a stop on behalf of Malappuram District, but was subsequently called back by the Indian Railways, and another railway station namely Shornur in Palakkad district was allotted in its place. The petitioner thus alleges that the said call back was due to political reasons, and is unfair. 

The petitioner places reliance on the the population of Tirur District in Malappuram and Shornur District in Palakkad, as revealed by the 2011 Census Report, to buttress the argument that Tirur is a major district with dense population and the denial of the railway stop there would amount to absolute ignorance and hindrance of effective transport facilities to the entire people of the district. 

Further, the petitioner avers that the Shornur Railway Station is roughly 56 KM from Tirur, and that it would be difficult for the people from Malappuram District to travel such distance. The petitioner argues that the same would cause "relentless hardships to the people living in the locality including the petitioner, especially to working individuals and aged people". 

Additionally, the petitioner also submits that although there were other trains that did not have a stop at the Tirur railway station as well, there was a cardinal difference between those other trains and Vande Bharat. The petitioner argues that while the other trains were running in the long distance route from Kerala to other destinations in other states, Vande Bharat renders service within the State of Kerala, and ignoring the citizens of one district would thus amount to partiality. 

"Because the non-action of the respondents with regard to the representations put forth by the petitioner is arbitrary and is against the principles of natural justice. In spite of meticulously running behind the authorities for considering the petitioners representation, none of them have performed their duty to resolve the undue delay consecutively made by them and has not stated any reason for the delay that has taken place in considering the representations of the petitioner, which have not evoked any proper response," the SLP further states. 

The petitioner thus prays that the impugned order of the Division Bench of the High Court be stayed on the aforementioned grounds. 

Case Title: P.T. Sheejish v. Union of India & Ors.