New Delhi, Sep 16 The Delhi High Court on Wednesday sought the stand of the Railways on a plea to provide a lower berth to a pregnant woman even in case of online ticketing, saying it expected authorities to follow the reservation policy for such passengers on the IRCTC platform as well.
A bench of Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia observed that although the existing railway reservation policy recognised a pregnant woman for preferential consideration for lower berths, there was no mechanism on the IRCTC platform that allowed a pregnant woman to seek such a benefit.
"IRCTC appears to be an agent of the Railways. It becomes the bounden duty of Railways to ensure that its policy is complied with. We expect that all appropriate steps shall be taken by respondents 1 and 2 (Centre and the Railway Board) to ensure that the policy is followed and appropriate directions are issued to respondent no. 3 (IRCTC)," the bench said.
The court passed the order while issuing notice to the authorities on the PIL by Anunay Sahay.
The petition stated that the IRCTC application effectively prohibited a pregnant woman from seeking the benefit of a lower-berth facility, and instead compelled her to approach a physical reservation counter with a certificate from a registered medical practitioner.
"The lower-berth facility for pregnant women is evidently intended to address the physical requirements, access to facilities et al associated with pregnancy and to facilitate safer and more comfortable travel. And thus requiring the beneficiary of such facility to undertake an additional physical procedure to get her tickets booked frustrates the very object of the protective measure," the petition said.
"A beneficial policy must be implemented in a manner that advances, rather than defeats, its purpose. Thus, the digital reservation system ought consequently to incorporate a mechanism whereby an eligible pregnant woman can indicate her status and seek allocation against the applicable lower-berth facility, subject to verification and availability," it added.
The court listed the matter for hearing on September 30.
