The Madhya Pradesh High Court recently declined to quash a criminal case against a lawyer who allegedly pretended to be a Travelling Ticket Examiner (TTE) and solicited money from passengers at the Bhopal railway station.
Justice Anuradha Shukla noted that the case involved disputed facts that required a full trial for proper examination.
“It has been argued that no money was recovered from the accused, he did not wear any badge indicating he was a railway employee, and no passenger statements were recorded. However, these are factual issues that can only be examined during a trial. It is up to the trial court to determine whether the prosecution can prove its case based on statements from railway employees,” the Court stated.
The incident occurred on June 21, 2021, when passengers at platform number 2 of Bhopal railway station complained about a man posing as a TTE and demanding money. A railway official confronted the accused, who was found with an Excess Fare Ticket (EFT) book bearing an official railway number. The man identified himself as Rohit Kumar Mishra from Kaushambi, Uttar Pradesh. The officials prepared a memo and took him to the Government Railway Police (GRP) station in Bhopal, where an FIR was registered on June 23, 2021.
The accused filed a petition to quash the FIR, denying the allegations and claiming unlawful detention. His defense argued that the seized book was a money receipt book, not an EFT book, according to a North-Central Railway report dated January 3, 2022. They also stated that Mishra, suffering from mental instability due to the pandemic, was wearing his black advocate’s coat without any TTE symbols.
The prosecution presented CCTV footage showing Mishra interacting with passengers and asking for tickets. They argued that the absence of recovered money or passenger statements were factual issues for trial examination.
The Court noted that the receipt book found with Mishra bore a North-Central Railway seal, creating an impression of belonging to the railway’s checking unit.
“Even if the receipt book was not an EFT book, it clearly created an impression that it belonged to the checking unit of North-Central Railway, Prayagraj,” the Court reasoned.
The Court concluded that the absence of passenger statements alone did not indicate false implication and dismissed the petition to quash the FIR.
Advocate Anuvaad Shrivastava represented the petitioner, while Advocate Vineeta Sharma represented the State.
