The Kerala High Court refused to quash a case registered against a woman for allegedly booking tickets using the profiles registered with the IRCTC and selling them to others after receiving commission/service charges. The High Court explained that Section 143 of the Railways Act would also cover the sale/purchase of tickets through online modes.

The petitioner approached the High Court with a plea to quash the proceedings registered against her. A significant question brought up in this case was regarding the applicability of the provisions of S.143 of the Railways Act in the sale of e-tickets through online platforms.

The Single Bench of Justice S.Manu held, “Commercial use of online services provided through the website of IRCTC is clearly in violation of the terms and conditions published by the IRCTC. The petitioner, alleged to have booked tickets through the website and supplied the tickets to others for profit, has prima facie acted in violation of the specific terms and conditions of the IRCTC.”

Advocate Shaji Chirayath represented the Petitioner, while CGC C.Dinesh represented the Respondent.

Factual Background

The incident dates back to the year 2019, when the Assistant Sub Inspector, RPF Crime Intelligence Branch, obtained a search warrant and conducted a search at 'Fly Image Tours and Travels’. The petitioner, an owner of the establishment, was available at the shop. As the petitioner had no authorisation from the Railway administration and IRCTC for selling tickets, the seizure was effected, and a search list was properly prepared and attested by witnesses.

The petitioner was interrogated, and she allegedly admitted that e-tickets were booked and sold for monetary benefits. She was arrested and produced before the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Ernakulam and was released on bail.

Arguments

It was the case of the Petitioner that further proceedings against the petitioner are liable to be quashed since no offence under Section 143(1)(a) of the Railways Act will be attracted even if all the factual averments in the complaint are accepted as correct. It was contended that the provisions of Section 143 of the Railways Act would not apply to the procurement of e-tickets through IRCTC.

Reasoning

The Bench found that the petitioner is neither a railway servant nor an agent authorised to procure and supply railway tickets. The materials on record showed that the petitioner booked several railway tickets using two user profiles registered with the IRCTC. Witnesses had given statements to the Railway police that they had obtained tickets from the petitioner by paying amounts to her in addition to the ticket fare.

“Therefore, prima facie it appears that the petitioner used to book tickets using the profiles registered with the IRCTC and sell it to others for amounts higher than the actual ticket fare. It shows that she earned profit by indulging in sale/supply of tickets to others”, the Bench said while further adding, “Section 143 of the Railways Act would cover sale/purchase of ticket through online modes also.”

The petitioner is alleged to have reserved tickets using profiles registered with the IRCTC and supplied them to various persons after receiving commission/service charges. “Misuse of the online ticketing platform for profits is detrimental to the interests of genuine users relying on it for booking tickets”, the Bench held.

Finding that the materials produced by the RPF, along with the complaint, made out a prima facie case for proceeding against the petitioner, the Bench was of the view that the inherent powers of the Court cannot be exercised to terminate the prosecution. “The petitioner shall face the trial”, the Bench concluded.

Cause Title: Afeefa Kadir v. The State Of Kerala & Ors. (Neutral Citation: 2025:KER:16712)

Appearance:

Petitioner: Advocates Shaji Chirayath, Jiji M. Varkey, G. Savitha, M.M. Shajahan,Bhoomika Sajan

Respondent: CGC C.Dinesh

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Kerala High CourtJustice S Manu

Tulip Kanth

Assistant Editor

Tulip Kanth is an Assistant Editor at Verdictum having over 5 years of experience in the field of legal journalism and editing. She extensively covers judgments of the Supreme Court, High Courts as well as Tribunals. She has previously worked with a legal publishing website where she oversaw the work of other editors and has also created updates on notifications of different Government Ministries. She holds an English Honours Degree from SGTB Khalsa College, Delhi University and has completed her LLB course with specialisation in Corporate Law from Amity University.