Action against rail officials if passengers travel on train roof: HC

The High Court today (July 21, 2022) blasted Bangladesh Railway authorities for mismanagement in the railway services, including ticket scalping, and observed that no passenger can travel on train roof.

"If any train carries passengers on the roof, appropriate action will be taken against the responsible officials who will fail to stop it, and even, they cannot imagine what consequence they will face," the HC bench of Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder and Justice Khizir Hayat said during a suo muto (voluntary) proceeding on this issue.

With this observation, the bench ordered the railway authorities to inform by July 31 on what steps have been taken to stop carrying passengers on train roof and ticket scalping.

Earlier in the day, Joint Director General of Bangladesh Railway AM Salahuddin and its Director (Traffic) Md Nahid Hasan Khan and sohoz.com official Zubayer Hossain appeared before the HC bench to convey the steps taken to prevent mismanagement in railway services. 

Salahuddin told the HC bench that they have some limitations in stopping passengers from travelling on train roofs.

"In this situation, you remained silent which cannot be allowed. You must discharge your duties properly," Justice Nazrul Islam Talukder told the officials.   

Deputy Attorney General AKM Amin Uddin Manik told the court that the railway authorities have taken steps to conduct inquiry into the mismanagement of railway services against which Dhaka University student Mohiuddin Roni has been demonstrating.

Yesterday, the HC bench wanted to know about Roni's protest, demanding improvement of railway services.

The bench delivered the order on a suo muto move following a photo of Mohiuddin Roni and caption published on The Daily Star yesterday.