Observing that a "custodian of Railways is expected not to act in an obnoxious manner," the Bombay High Court on Tuesday granted pre-arrest bail to a travelling ticket examiner (TTE) booked for urinating near a passenger's berth at night. The pre-arrest bail was granted on the condition that he deposits Rs 25,000 to Railways and the amount be used for erecting a water cooler at Karjat railway station in Thane district. A single-judge bench of Justice Bharati H Dangre was hearing a plea by the TTE, Munesh Chand Meena, who was suspended after the incident. Through advocate A A Khan, Meena told the bench that he repented his actions and on his own, had decided to contribute Rs 25,000 to Railways, to be used for a water cooler facility at the Karjat railway station. "It can be said that a ticket checker, a custodian of Railways, 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 an inebriated state," noted the judge. 🚨 Limited Time Offer | Express Premium with ad-lite for just Rs 2/ day 👉🏽 Click here to subscribe 🚨 According to the prosecution, a woman passenger was travelling by Hazrat Nizamuddin-Pune Duronto Express on March 7 and when the train was heading towards Pune station, she heard water dripping near her berth and discovered that a person was urinating there. After she called the helpline, she and her co-passengers noticed that the accused was zipping up his pants and one of them even recorded the incident on the cellphone. They soon realised that the person was a ticket checker. The complaint was lodged by a passenger and the FIR was registered with Karjat railway police station, where statements of witnesses were recorded and the video was examined. “The video was put across.. the applicant seems to be in an inebriated state, the still photographs show he was apologising to the person (making the video), sitting at his feet, repenting. The accused is already suspended and a departmental inquiry is going on. There is no need for custodial interrogation," noted Justice Dangre.
