Justice Gautam Chowdhary of the Allahabad High Court has sought an explanation from railway officials after experiencing ‘inconvenience and displeasure’ on a recent train journey with his wife. The High Court judge was upset over not getting refreshments despite repeated calls.
In a letter dated July 14, the Allahabad High Court Registrar (Protocol) Ashish Kumar Srivastava, on behalf of the sitting Judge, asked Railways General Manager (GM) to explain the issues pointed out in the letter.
Justice Gautam Chowdhary of #AllahabadHighCourt has called for an explanation from the erring officials, GRP personnel and pantry Car manager for the inconvenience caused to him during his train journey on July 8 (New Delhi- Prayagraj). pic.twitter.com/XKzXC6sdHB
— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) July 18, 2023
According to the letter, Allahabad High Court Judge Gautam Chowdhary was traveling with his wife on July 8 on train no. 12802, Purushottam Express (on PNR: 246-4082004 & H.O.R No. 639/2023). The train was almost three hours late, and regardless of Chowdhary’s repeated demands, neither pantry workers nor Government Railway Police (GRP) personnel assisted ‘His Lordship’.
“The train was more than three hours late. In spite of repeatedly informing the Travelling Ticket Examiner (TTE), no Government Railway Police (GRP) personnel were found in the coach. Further, no pantry car staff attended to His Lordship for providing refreshments despite repeated calls. Moreover, a call made to the pantry car manager was not picked up,” the letter reads.
The letter further stated that the incident “caused great inconvenience and displeasure to His Lordship. In this regard, the Honourable Judge wishes that explanation may be called from the erring officials of the Railways, the GRP personnel and the pantry car manager.”
Interestingly, the aforementioned letter marked as ‘urgent’ mentions Justice Gautam Chowdhary as ‘His Lordship’ seven times. Notably, back in 2014, the Supreme Court said that judges should be addressed in a dignified and respectful manner however, calling them “my lord” or “your lordship” is not mandatory. The Allahabad High Court, on behalf of ‘His Lordship’ has sought an explanation from the railways for the inconvenience experienced by him due to the lack of refreshments served.
Citing an unnamed railway official, TOI reported that a catering staff member did visit Justice Chowdhary’s compartment, however, someone from the passage of the coach “asked the catering staff member to leave assuming that the judge might be sleeping and he is unnecessarily disturbing him in the morning.” The report adds that minutes later, the train arrived at Prayagraj station and the judge and his wife disembarked.
Meanwhile, Northern Central Railway (NCR) Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) Himanshu Upadhya verified receipt of the complaint from the honorable judge. As a result, the affected departments have been formally requested to provide a written explanation. The NCR respectfully apologized for the judge’s inconvenience.
