Holding

The Court declined to issue any directions to the Union, holding that the matters raised are within the executive's domain and involve policy and resource considerations, and only awarded costs to the petitioner.

Summary

The petitioner, a railway commuter, filed a writ petition under Article 32 seeking a mandamus directing the Union of India to implement the recommendations of the Kunzru, Wanchoo and Sikri Committee reports, appoint a fact‑finding commission and improve railway safety, invoking Articles 19 and 21. The Union, through a counter‑affidavit, argued that many safety measures had already been taken within the limits of available resources and that further directions would impinge on executive policy and resource allocation. The Court held that issues of policy, prioritisation and resource constraints lie within the domain of the executive and that the judiciary should not issue detailed directions in such matters, although it recognised the fundamental nature of the rights claimed. Consequently, the petition was dismissed, but the Court awarded the petitioner consolidated costs of Rs. 5,000. The judgment emphasised the public‑utility character of the railways and the need for the government to act with urgency, without the Court prescribing specific measures.

Issues considered

Whether the Supreme Court can issue a writ of mandamus under Article 32 directing the Union to implement railway safety committee recommendations.
Whether the petitioner's fundamental rights under Articles 19 and 21 impose a positive duty on the State to ensure railway safety.
Whether the matter involves policy decisions and resource allocation that are within the exclusive domain of the executive.
Whether the petitioner has locus standi in a public interest litigation (though not contested).
Whether costs may be awarded in a public interest litigation.

Legislation cited

Constitution of Indias. 19, s. 21, s. 32
Indian Railways Act, 1890s. 4
Motor Vehicles Act, 1939

Subjects

public interest litigationArticle 32mandamusrailway safetyfundamental rightsexecutive policycost awardfact‑finding commission

Judgment

..
'709

DR. P. NALI.:A THAMBY 'fHBRA
A
v.

UNION OF INDIA. AND OTHERS

October 28, .1983 B

.[P.N. BHAGWATJ,. AMARENDRA NATH SEN AND
RANGANATH MISRA: JJ.]

·Public Interest Litlgation-Petitio!ler .a cominuter of the Indian Railways
praying ior. ~writ of Mandamus undet Article 32 of the Constitution 'for imp/e• c
.mentailon 'of Ille several Con1n1ittee Reports. appointing a-fact finding Commission
to inquire and repo"rt about the railways accidents and for directions t{J c,0n1ply
.With every·provision,,.of th"e RailWay-Act so as not to violate- Articles 19 and 21 of
the Constitution...i....Cof;lrts cannol give ahy directions to the Union.of India-Costs
of Public lntere~t Litigatio·n,_payment of. . ·

Disposing off the petition; n1aking certain observations and expressing
n
~·its iriability to _i_ssue any directions, except ·awarding costs, the Corirt .

• HELD·:· 1. Giving directions in a·matter like· ibis, where availability
· of resourCes .has a material beariiig, poliCy ·regarding' prioritl.es is involved,
exPertise is very "much in issue is"not p~dent to issue any direc.tions. Ordina-
rily the powers of. the cOurt to deal with a matter ·such as ·this, which Piima- E
facie appears to be- wholly within the do~ain of. the EXi::cutive n1ust be
examined. [723 H, 724 Al · .

The Govt .. have limit.ations', both of resources and· capacity. )Tet, it is
hoped that the Government and the Adminisfration would rise to the necessity.
. Of the occasion and take it as a challenge to improVe ibis great priblic utility .
(Railways) ii:i an effective way and.with an cidequate ··sense of urgency. If,
F
) necessary "it shall set "up. a high powe"red body to quickly handle the ma,ny faced
J

pioblemS stailding in the way. -(723 G-HJ - ·

f 2. As the present case is ·a. public · inierest litigatiOn, the petitioner is
entitled to, consOli.dated costs of Rs. 5,000- recoverable from the Railway
· Ministty of the Union Government. (724 F~GJ · G

3. There is hardly any scOPe to.doUbt that the guarantee~ provided in ·
Part Ill of the Constitution are Fundamental and it is the paramount obligation
of ihe State to ensure availability Or situations, circumstances, and e~Viron
ments in which every citizen can effectively exercis~ a.ild ·enjoy these rights. H
: The· right to life has rcc.ently been held b:Y the Supreme· Court to connote not
merely animal eXistence but to have a much wider meaning-to irlclude the ·finer
graces of buma~ civilization. ' If these right~ of the citizens are to be· ~nsured,

•
710 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [t 984 J 1 s.~.n.

it is undoubtedly the obligation of the" Union of India and its instrumentalities
A to improve the established means of cominunica.tion in this.country. [722 E-GJ J

3.2. The Railway·s are a public ufility-scrvice fun on monopoly basis.
Since it is a public utHity, there is _no Justification to run it merCly as a com mer~
cial venture with a ·view to. -making prefits. It is noi known if a monopoly
based public utility should ever ~be a commercial venture geared to supply· the
general revenue of the State but there is no doubt that the common man's
mode of transport closely conncctc~ with the free play of his fundamental right
should not be. [722 H, 723 A]

3.3. TJle Union Government should be free to coliect the entire opera-
tional cost ·whiCh would inclµde the interest on _the capital outlay out of the
c national exchf:quer. Small marginal profits cannot be ruled out. The massive
operation will require a margin of adjustment and, therefore, n1arginaJ ·profits
should be admissible. [723 B-C] ·· · ·

3.4. On the other· hand, it is of Paramount importance that the services
should be prompt. The quality ~f the service shOuld irnpr'Ove. -Travel com-
forts, facilities in running.trains and qualitf of accommodation and availability
D thereof should be ensured. The Administralion· -should remain always alive to
the positio~ that every bona.fide. passenger is a guest of the service. Tickeiless
travelling has to be totallY wiped out. . It is this class of passengers which is
a menance to the system without any· payment, these Jaw br-eakers disturb the
administration and genuine passengers. · Stringent raws should be n1ade and
strictly enforced to free the Railways.from this deep rooted eVil Security both
of the travelling pub1ic as also to the travelling_citizens must be provided and
E this means that accidents have to be avoided, attack on the persons of the
passengefs a_nd ·pryiiig on their property ,has to stop. -Scientific improvements
made iil other countries and suitable to the system in Our country must be
briskly adopt~d. .The obligations ca,s.t by the Railways Act and the Rules under
it must be complied with. [723 C·F]

F 3.5. At the salne time, no purpose is served by placing the blame at the
·doors of the Governn1ent of the d_ay. All of us should have realisn1 and condour
Independence has been secured at ~reat cost aild sacrific.- It is every citizen's
obligation to maintain it and create an environment in Which its fruits can be
harvested and shared. [719 D-B] ·

G. 3.6 Freed6m brings resPonsibility. There can be no rights without
responsibilities. In our country unfortunately individual rights have received
dispropertionat_e emphasis without. proper stress on correspending soCial o·bH-
gations and responsibilities. Ju a· welfare State like ours the citizen is for ever
encountering public officials at various levels, reiulators Rnd dispensers of social ·
serviCes and managers of State operated enterprises. It is of utmest importance
H that the en~ounters are as just and as free from arbitrariness as 3.re the familiar
encounters of the rights. What is, therefore, of paramount importance is that
every citizen must gCt involved i,n the· determined march .to .resurrect the society
and subordin.ate his will and passion to the prinlordial necessity of -order in

•
P.. N.1'. TllERA v. UNION (Ranganath Misra, !.)' 711

·social life. Jfis only in a cou~try of that order that the common manjVi1lhave
his voice heard. The drea1n can become a reality if every citizen becomes aware A
of biS duty and before asking.for ~nforcement of his right, volunteers to perform
hi§ obligation. [719 E-F, 720 B-C, D, 724 El

ORIGINAL JURISDICTION : Writ Petition No. 891 l of 1981.

(Under article 32 of the Constitution ofindia) B

Petitioner ill Person

K.G. Bhagat, Addi. Sol. Gen., N.C. Talulcdar and R.N. Poddar
fot the
. Respondents. · . c
The.Judgment oftheCourt was delivered by·

R'NGANATH MISRA, J. The petitioner. in this petition under
Article 32 of the Constitution is a resident of Sultanbattcry area
in the State of Kerala and describing himself as a commuter of the D
Indian Railways he has aUeged violation of fundamental righis
guaranteed under Articles 19 and 21 and. claims reliefs of mandamus
to the Union of India for i.mplementing the reports of the Kunzru,
Wanchoo and Sikri Committees, appointing a fact. finding Commi-
ssion to inquire and report about the numerous train. accidents from ·E
1970 onwards and for several other directions to the Union· Govern-
ment and the instrumentalities connected with the administration of
the Railways. As the petition which the petitioner, an allopatbic
doctor by profession, bad himself drafted and tiled was unduly long
and repetitive, written· submission with the assistance of counsel
crystalising the issues for determination by the Court was filed, leave F
to amend the writ petition was granted and notice thereon was
issued· on August 2; i982. The petitioner alleged, inter alia, that
) the Railways in this country are owned by the Central Government
and on account of failure 'to fulfil the constitutional, statutory and.
commercial obligations by the Railways, adequate safety protec1Jon G
to the passengers and their properties is not available. The Indian
Railways Act, 1890 ('Act' for short) has prescribed several safety
measures; based upon experience, the Railway Board through wbi~h
apex body the administration is run· and controlled has also pres-
cribed rules and issued instructions which are n~t being properly H
implemented The Union Government had appointed three high
~·. powered Committees in the post-independence. period, namely, the
Kunzru, Wancboo and S'ikri Committees to investigate into the
712 .
SUl'IlEMll. COURT REPORTS (t 984) 1 s.c.a.

affairs of.the. Railways . with particular refere.nce to ·accidents ·and
A though· detailed and useful recommendations. have been made.by.·
these committees, there has been· no adequate implementation
thereof. Particular reference ·has been made to the unmanned level
cros.sings, increasi~g human error as a contributing f~ctor to acci-
dents, non-allocation of adequate funds for improvements, improper
B utilisation of the assets a,nd facilities,. inefficien.cy in the administra- ·
tion at different level~, prevalence and incr~ase o( indiscipline, fre-
quency of thefts, robberies and murders of passengers, ineffective
checking and sup.ervisory ·system, want.of replacement of equipment
and .repairs to·bridges.as also non-provision of adequate facilities
to ·passengers. ,.
c
0

The Joint Director (Safety) has filed a counter affidavit in
answer to. the R11le on behalf of the respondents. It has been
averred that the recomme11dations of the. Accidents Enquiry
Committeess were examined .and implemented within .the limits of
D financial and materia.l resources. So far as manned level crossings
are concerned. there wete as inany as 14471 of them as on ·March 1,
1982;. unmanned level crossings were provide.d mostly on roads where
. the' volume of road and train traffic was low. It has been' further
pleaded. that periodic review . is . undertaken about manning of
unmanned level crossings and opening of new level crossings in con-
E
. sultatioli with appropriate State Governments.. Initially it used to
be the obligation of the respective State Governments to provide for
such level crossings at their c<is(in view of the accepted position
that at a level crossing the right of way is of the train in preference
to the tralfic on the road: As that ar~ange!'lent was ncit workmg
F • well, with effect from April 1, 1966, a Railway Safety Work Fund
·has been set ,up and expenses are being met out of it. From 1978
'potentially hazardous unmanned level crossings with a volume. of
· . traffic of inore than 60QQ,train vehic!e·uni\s or poor approach visibi•
lity ~are being mann~d ii{ a phased manner at the cost of the Rail'
ways and: control. at the gate is also being improved: As on June 1,
·•
G 1982; there were as many as 27233 unmanned level crossings. o~ the
· · Railways and if all d them are to be manued, a capital expenditure
of 330 crore rupees would be necessary and similarly an annual
recurring expenditure of Rs.44 crores will have t.o be'met. As a
. H_ measure of safety,"whistle boards have. been fixed near unmanned
level crossings requiring the engine driv<;r to whistle· while appro-
' ,aching such, !eye! crossings" Most of the States have. frame.d rules
under the ·Motor· Vehicles Act, 1939; making it obligatory for
..
P.N.'i'. ~HERA v. UNION (Rangatiath Misra, J.) ·
. . . . . . '113
drivers of motor vehicles to stop short of unmanned level crossings, ,
.

observe and then proceed.· · Speed breakers are usually. provided on · ·. A
the. road' approaches to all unmanned level..crossings, With a view
to educating the users of the roads wide publicity is given through •
newspapers, cinema s)ides, commercial· broadcasting and the
television about the hazards involved while negotiating un.manrred
· level crossings. . It has been. ~Ileged that unmanned level crossings · B
are graduaily bdng replaced by manned ones and improved technical
. gadgets. are l:Jeing. provi<led for efji~ient operation. ·!lelying on the
Sikri Committee Report of 1978, it has been submitted that. the·
.... State Governments appeared .to be aware of their ·responsibilities· in
this matter and about 2/3 of the· fonds of the Safety Works had been
utilised by March ?1, · I 982. While· admitting that in the initial .· . C
period utilisation of funds was poor and finalisation of schemes for
overbridges and underbridges was slow, the situation is .claimed to
have improved and in 1982-83 as many as 15 works in different
States involving an expenditure· of Rs.22 crores have been cleared.
- ' ..,,,'·
D
Dealing with manpower,. the counteraffidavit asserts that direct
recruits are given proper training required for the respective post• •
a~d only quali"1ed people are entrusted with 'assignments. Pragmatic.
and scientific classification · of various · posts has been made and
suitable care is being taken in this regard: So far as the locomotive '
drivers.·are concerned, strict vision standard.shave be~n faid.down :E.
and general physical fitness is a prescribed pre-requisite. Drivers are
subjected to periodical medical examination until the age of 45 at
intervals df three years and thereafter until · superannuation every·
year.·
F
Every accident, it has been averred, is thoroughly enquired into
to fix tb,e responsibility for it and to visit ·the delinquent with proper ·
·. · punishment. Ordinarily. such enquiries are conducted by the admi·
nistrative .machinery. Accidents involving loss df human life. and
· properties estimated over, one lakh are earmarke<l for enquiry by
Commissioners of Railway Safety who as authorities appointed
u°nder s. 4 of the Act function ii:idependently !lf the Railway Admi-
.nistrat.ion and are under the administrative control of the Ministry
. , / of Civil Aviation. Enqu.iries by the Railway officials lite stipulated
to commence within three· days of the accident and are intended· to H
be over within one week of their ·commencement; while enquiries·by
Commissioners of Railw~y Safety are also required to start within
three days and official reports are requfred to be made within 60 days
714 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1984) i. s.c.il..

of theaccident. Adequate disciplinary control is exercised and on
A ·the findings of the enquiries, the delinquent officials are visited with
necessary punishment.

Adverting to· robberies and dacoi(ies in the running trains, it
has been pointed. out that they are problems of law and order,
B· maintenlllice of which is an obligation of the State Governments.
Government Railway Police, Civil Police and plain clothed CID
officers operate for the purpose
. . .of reducing crime and ,for detection.
A moiety .share of the cost of GRP is borne by the Railway admi-
nistration. Added to this the Railway Protection. Force is main-
tained to protect consignments booked for transport as also Railway
property. The overall strength of the GRP stands. at 6,740. They
· escort passenger trains running ·at night by deploying armed guards,
provide beat patrolling at statfons and waiting halls, keep surveillance
over criminals and post pickets at vulnerable points. ·.

D With reference to· improvements in the rolling stock and
· required gadgets, it has been stated that the Sixth Plan for the Rail-
ways has been termed as 'Rehabilitation Plan'.. Overaged gadgets
• are intend~d to be. withdrawn subject to availability of resources and
manufacturing capacity within the country. The Planning Commi-
E .
ssion which is an expert body is .responsible' for. fixing of the priori-
ties. It has again. been pleadeq that there are nearly 120000 bridges
on· the Railways out of which 195 are important bridges and nearly
9400 arc major bridges. It is said· that every bridge is annually
inspected and continuos record is maintained in regard to every ·
bridge in ·the bridge. register. C>n an average 400 to 600 bridges are
F annually built. Speed restriction is imposed on old and weak
bridges and at present there are 202 such bridges. Figures or" s.ix
years between 1977 and 1983 of the ·outlay on bridges have been
provided which indicate substantial sums. having been set apart for
the rebuilding of bridges. It is said that the. total life of 80 years
for steel work and JOO years for masonry part of the bridges stipul-
G ated in the Railway Code is for the purpose of provision in the
pepreciation Reserve Fund. The coda! life does not have any direct
relevance with the condition of a bridge and there is no necessity
• of rebuildin!ji.a bridge when its c_odal life i~ 0ver. There has been no
instance where the work of bridge rebmldmg has been postponed
H for Jack of funds and no accident has occurred owing to structural
failure of .
any bridge or girders .
•
P.N.T. THERA v_. UNION (Ranganath Misra, J.) 715 '

Colour Jig.ht signalling which is an improved device less depen-
dent on direct visibility and• where signal is pre-warned by a signal A
in the rear, i.s being provided on the trunk and main routes on a
graduated scale. Antomatic warning system has been introduced in
Gaya, Mughalsarai and Howrah-Bmdwan chord line sections on the
Eastern Railway. Due to theft of aluminium track magnets the
· system has been found not very satisfactory. Experiments are being B
a
made for evolving design which would not be prone to theft.

The petitioner has filed a rejoinder pointing out that the coun- ·
. teraffidavit clearly indicated a negative approach on the part of the·
respondents to the entire matter. According .to the petitioner assis-
tance of500 crores of rupees was to come ·during the year ending c
March 31, 19 83 and fro!ll out of such funds, pressing improvements
like manning the unmanned level crossings could be undertaken.

I Reliance has been placed on the. observations. of Sikri. Committee
that accidents at unmanned level cro&Sirlf!S take a heavy toll of
human Jives every year. The petitioner' has pleadedfor abolition of
overtime employment of safety category staff. He has pointed out
D
that though he asked for directions fot providing appropriate moni-
toring of speed of trains particularly at accident prone spots in the
track, no reply has been given thereto in the counter-affidavit. The ·
strength of the GRP has been said to be totally inadequate keeping
in view the size of the Railways and volume of the passenger traffic E
it handles. The petitioner has denied the assertion in the counter-
affidavit that no accident has taken place on account for defective
bridges and has pointed out that the accident of June ii, 1981 on a
river bridge in the Bihar State was attributable to this factor only.
The petitioner has pleaded again for the introduction of the auto·
matic warning.. system and has referred to a publication of the Dire- F
) ctorate of Safety; Railway Board, entitled, "A Review of Accidents
on Indian Railways 1979-80", where the. introduction of automatic
warning system has been suggested to be introduced to avoid acci-
dents. He has al90 pleaded for enhancing the· minimu~ compen-
sation in the event of loss Of'life of a passenger arising out of G
accidents to a sum of Rs.75,000 by appropriate amendment of~. 82A
(2) of the Act. The petitioner has f<,>und fault ~th the counter-
affidavit for being silent in regard to his plea for the appointment of
' ~Railway Inspectors to make periodical inspection of carriages,
engines, tracks, etc. H
...
716 S.UPREME COURT REPORTS [ 1984] i s.c.R.

The lis before us is·not of the ordinary type where· there are
A two contending partie~. a cla_im is raised by one and denied by the
other, issues are struck, evidence is led and· the findings. follow.
Though the petitioner is commuter of tfaim run by the Indian
•Railways, the writ petition is essentially in the nature of public
. interest Iit.igation and the petitioner has attempted to voice the grie-
B vances of-the community availing the services of the Indian Railways.
In view of the recent pronouncements of this Court no objection has
· . been raised.in the cou.nter-affidavit and· we have not been called upon
· to· adjudge the locus. standi of the petitioner to mainta'in an action like
this. ·
.~,
c Railways came to India in 1853 and the first track to be laid
was of a small length connecting the then city of Bombay with a .. ,
snburb.. Thr_ough the decade; that followed the expansion was us-
ually for considerations of tra1fo and ·commerce, troop movement and
administrative convenience.· More of expansion came g;aduaUy
. connecting almost the entire country tbrougJi.a well woven network.
1
of.Railways and by the time the country became independent niost of
the Railways bad been 'nationalised and Railways constituted the most
important commercial activity of the Governm.ent of India. As early
·as 1850 :... and three years before t_he opening of the first Railway
track, Lord Dalhous.ie, the then Governor General of India had said
E in his minutes :

"I trust they (the East India Company and the'
Government of India) will ever avoid.the error0Cvie1ving
• Railways as private undertakings and. will regard. them. ·as
F national works, over which the Governm.cnt may justly
. exercise and is calied upon to cxe;cise stringent a.nd salu~ ·
tary control. This control should not" be an arbitrary right
of inte.rference bt!t a regulated authority defined· and
declared by law .which is not to · be needlessly or
vexation.sly exacted but which, in my humble judgment, is
G necessary at once for the interests of the Siate and for the
protection of the public." (Mimites ·or. Lord Dalhousie,
July 4, i 85')). ·" · ~.·

" This regard for the public ·interest during the pre-independence .·
H
period was.often·Stlbjeci to the limitations .imposed by the. British
Capital and Management and by British Commerdal and economic
interests until \he Railways were nationalised lietween 1925 and 1944.
..
. . / .
1'.N.T•.THERA Y. UNION (Ranganath Misra, J.) 111.

At any rate, by 1947 when the foreign ·domination .ended, the Rail-
ways had emerged as the main viable and .stable means of trnnsport A
and were providing 'the lifeline and link throughout the length and
breadth of the country. By 1955 the total length of an Indian
Railways.was 34705 miles and the capital sunk was m9re than 900
crore rupees.
B
The .rise in the importance of the Railways _in ihe national
sphere has been gradual. With the expansion of the Railways a high
powered body known as the Railway Board has come. to be placed at
the apex of control and with the new set up following independence. a
. Minister remained incharge to administer the affairs of the Railways
through the Board. As early as 1924 by a resolution known as the c
C9nvention Resolution of the Legislative Assembly . the Railway
budget had been· separaied from the general budget and this historical
p_ractice has"b'een continued till to.day. . "

Today the· Railways provi&'· the. most effective means· · of D
transport,both for passengers also for the goo.ds traffic: The Railways
a
have great'impact in· holding this great country together and in
'<'
I
promoting and running its· economy. · Their contribution to the com-.
munity is manifold :_ some seen and others not apparently visible.
Briefly stated, it is a big force, the largest employer in the country and
a monopoly transport agency ..

- ·Before we cometo deal with the spei::ific aspects .raise.d. in th~
writ petiti0n .and countered. by the rcspondenls certain general
observations need be made. The Indian ·Railways are 'a socialise.d
public utility nndertakin'g, There is .at present a general agreement
among writers of ·repnte that .the price· policy· of such a 'Public
F
Corporation should neither make ·a loss nor a profit ·after meeting all .
capita! charges and this is. expressed by co,,ering all costs or breaking .
· even; and secondly, the priee it charges fqr the services sbould . corres- .
pond lo .relative costs. · Keeping the history of the growth of the · ·
Railways and their· functioning' in· view, the commendable view ·to G
· accept may be that the :rates and fares should cover the total cost of
service which would be equatto operational expenses, inter~st on
investn;ient, depreciaticm and payment of public obligations, if any.
We need not, howeve.r, e.xpress any opinion about it, .
H
After independence, keeping to the ideologies .that had been
nurtured during .the period of struggle ·an attempt has been made
718 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1984) 1 s.c.R.

Jor the simplification of the classes in the .Railways. Instead of first
A class, second class, inter class and.third class, two classes only have
been maintained." namely, the first class and the second class besides
the air-condi.tioned class. In developed countries usually the cla.ssi~ ..• \ .
fication is higher and lower; sleeping or sitting and the like. In India '>,
90% of the earnings in.respect of .,assenger traffic come froni the . • II!
lower class commuters. } ,._
' .

Also after independence expansion projects · have been
undertaken and many areas which have hitherto remained unlink.ed
and unconnected have been joined up as part of the national lifeline..
c ·Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, first Prime Minister of India had once
said : •
"Our final aim can o.nly be a classless society with
equal economic justice and opportunity to all, a society
organised on a planned bdsis for the raising of mankind
I
D to higher· material and cultural level ..... Every thing
that comes in the way will have to be removed; gently if
possible, forcibly, if necessary. And there seems to be
little doubt that coercion will often be necessary."

E This approach on principle does. not appear .to have been
abandoned. It is proper that this is worked out also in the Railways
and, as quickly as possible, classification conforming to this is intro·
duced. It is mariifest that the Indian Constitution has definitely
rejected the authoritarian "rorm of Government and directed the State
to bring about an egalitarian social order through the rule. of law.
F In keeping with this mandate several guiding policies are being·indi-
cated hut implementation is not·being made. What Tolstoy remarked
can relevantly be quoted as apt :
....I
"The abolition of slavery has gone on for a very long
G time. Rome abolished slavery; America abolished it and
we did, but only the words were abolished," not the thing."

The implementing.machinery has become non-funcfional. This
is so not only in our country .. Wi.lfred .Jenks in his address m April
H
1972 to the International Law . Organisation had summed up the
position thus ;
P.N.T. THERA v. UNION (Ranganath Misra, J.) 719

"Throughout the world . there is an acute crisis of
confidence in integrity and. fairness. This crisis of confi- A
dence lies at the heart of political instability,. economic
disorder, industrial c)isturbance, racial and religious
conflict, cultural anarchy, youth unrest and continuous
international tension. Disruptive in all these fields, i~ ..
p~ralyses actibn to remove its causes."
B
Burger, C.J. of the United States .has said :

"We are approaching 1he status of an imperfect
society where capability of maintaining elementary security
in the streets, in the scho!Jls and for the homes of our c
• 't people is in doubt. At every stage of the criminal process;
the system cries out for change."

I What has 'been exiracted above appropriately summarises the
current situation all .the world over. No purpose is served by placing D
the blame at the doors o~ "the Government of the day. We must
have realism and candour: Independ,nce has been secured.at great
cost and sacrifice. It is our qbligation.to maintain it and create an

-..
environment in which its fruits can be ·harvested and shared.
E
... Freedom brings responsibility. Th.ere can be no rights without
responsibilitie•. · In our country, unfortunately individual rights seem
to have received disproportionate emphasis without proper stress on
c·orresponding social obligations ·and responsibilities. In a welfare
State like ours the citizen is for ever encountering public officials at
various levels, regulators and dispensers of social· services and F
inariagers of State operated enterprises. It is of the utmost impor-
tance that the encounters are as just and as free from arbitrariness as
are the familiar e.ncounters of the rights.

• Edmund Burke spoke thus :

"All persons possessing a portion of power ought to
be strongly and awfully impressed with an idea thatthey
act in trust, and they ate to account for their conduct,.
in that trust to the one great master, author and founder H
of society." ··
720 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1984) 1 S.C.R.;
•
Equally apt are the observations. of Lord Denning in .hiB ...
A address to the National Conference of the Law Society in J980 :
I
"When you look upon these scientific achievements,
. then look back for·a moment..on our world today, what
·.. do you see, Crime, increasing every where; sins, disgrace-
. fut sins, corroding corruption, increasing· •:verywhere.
'When we see this, surely. we recall the words of 2000
years ago.....:what doth it profit a man if he gains the whole
world and loses his own soµ!." · ·

What is, therefore, of paramount importance is that every
c ·citizen must get involved in tb,e determined march to resurrect tho:
society and subor<;linate liis will and passion to the primordial.
necessity of o~der in social life. ·

Abraham Li11colo once told his Congress :

D . "This country; with its· insfit'!tioos, ·belongs to the
.people who inhabit it."

. Such also is the position in ou~ country. •Everyone in the
country must realise this and be told the great truth said by Lord
Wright:
E •
r "-The safeguard of British liberty is in the ,good sense
of the pe~ple." .

Liver sidge v. Anderson (1942) A.C. 206
F
• It is useful to conclude· our general .observations "by quoting _.
. from Robert Ingersoll : · •

.. A Government founded. OD anything except liberty
and justice cannot stand. .Air the wr.ccks on either side •
G
of the stream of time, all' the wrecks of the great cities
and all the nations that have passed away-all are a
warning that no nation founded upon injustice can stand .. .~

From the sand.enshrouded Egypt, from the marble wilder-
ness.of Athens, and from every fall~n crumbling stone-.,f
H · the once mightly Rome, comes .a wail-as it were-the ciy
·that no. nation founded ·on injustice ·can permanently.
~taod.''
P.N.T. THEl\A v. UNl~N (Ranganath Misra, ·n ·721

Having thus . cleared tht: way by indicating the approach;
·ordinarily the powers of the Court to deal with a matter' such as A
this which prima facie appears to be wholly ·within the domain of
the Executive, should have been examined. Lord Simond in Shaw
v. Director, Public Prosecution,(') has-observed.:·

''I entertain no doubt there remains in the Courts of B
Law a residual power to enforce the supreme and funda·
mental purpose of the law, .to conserve not only the safety
apd order, but also the moral .welfare of.the State and
that it is their duty to guard against attacks. which may
be more insiduous because they are novel and unprepared
for." • "''
"' '
· Mathew, J. in Murlidhaf Aggarwal v. State of U.P., (') indicated : ·

"·Public policy. does not remain static in any given
community. It may vary froin gen~ratioti to generation D
and even in the same generation. Public policy would be
almost useles~ if it were to remain in fixed moulds for
all time. . '

If it is variable, iflt depends on the welfare. of the
community at any given tirrie, how are the 'courts to · E
ascertain it ! The Judges are more to be trusted as inter·
"preters of the law than as expounders of: public policy.
However,.there is no alternative un(!er our system but to
vest this power with Judges. T_he difficulty of discovering
what public policy is at any given moment certainly does F
not absolve the "Judges from the duty qf doing so. In
conducting an. enquiry, as already stated, Judges· are not
hidebound oy precedent. The Judges must look beyond
the narrow field of past precedents, though this. stiU
leaves open the question in which direction they· must
cast their gaze." ·G
The learned Judge then quoted with approval the famous statement
ofCardoz~ (The Nature. of Judicial Process):

H
(I) [1961] 2 All E,R. 447.
(2) [1974] 2 S.C.C. 472 at 482.
722 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1984) I s.c.R,

'.'No doubt there is no assdrance that Judges will
,A ·interp.ret the mores of their .day in ore wisely and truly
than other men, But this is beside the point The point ,
is rather that 'this power must be lodged somewhere and .
under our Constitution and laws, it has been lodged in
the Judges and 'if they have to fulfil· their function as
B Judges, it would hardly be lodged el.sewhere,"
"
The petitioner has grounded his petition on Articles 19 and 21
of the Constitution. Article 19, inter alia, guarantees freedom of
movement throughout' th.e territory of India and to practice any,
profession, to carry on any occupation, trade or business, and Article
c 21 guarantees that•no person shall be deprived of hi·s life and
personal liberty exccj;t according to procedure prescribed by law.
The petitioner has maintained that· he, may every citizen of this
·country for the matter of that, is entitled to demand that the-• State·
shall provide adequate facilities and create and maintain an environ·
D ment in which the right to move freely and carry on any business or
profession would both be practicable and feasible. Since the State
maintains the Railways which provide the link and make working out
of both these rights possible, it is. contended, such facilities should
be in· good shape, adequate, prompt, efficient, economic' arid ~ithin
the reach of the common m~n, free from danger or apprehension
E of life. Similarly, this service must operate efficiently for transport
of.goods to facilitate business and practice of profession and trade
by citizens, There is hardly any .scope.to doubt thatthe guarantees
provided in Part Ill of the Constitution are fundamental and.it is
the par:-.mount obligation of the State to ensure availability of situa-
F tions, circumstances and environments in which every citizen can
effectively exercise and enjoy those rights, · The ·right to lif~ ·has
recently been held ·by this Court to. cannote not merely animal
existence but to have a much · wider meaning-to include the finer
graces of huinan civilization.. If these rights of the citizens- are to -...\
(
· be ensured, it is undoubtedly the obligation of the Union ofindia
G and its .instrumentalities to improve the established means af commu-
nication in this country: · _Here again, however, we need not express
any opinion as we do not. propose to· giv~ any dire,tions to. the
opposite parties. No-dispute regarding maintainability having been
raised, that question also did not arise for consideration.
H

l
We ha-.:e said earlier that the Railways are a public utility
service run on monopoly basis. Since it is a public utility, there is
;

P.N.T. TliERA v. UNION (Ranganath MiSra, J.) '723
no justification to run it merely as.a commercial venture With a.view.
to making profits. We do not know-at any rate it does not fall A
,
for consideration here-if a monopoly based public utility should
ever be a commercial venture geared t~. support the general revenue
of the State but there is not an iota of hesitation in us to say that
the common man'.s mode of transport- closely connected with the
free play of this fundametal right should not be. We agree that the. B
Union Gove;nment should be free to collect the entire operational
· cost which would include the interest on the capital outlay out of
the national exchequer. Small marginal porfits cannot be ruled out.
The mas'sive· operation· will require a margin of adjustment and,
therefore,. marginal profits should be admissible.
c
It k of paramount .importance that the' services should be
prompt, efficient and dignified. The quality of the service s·hould
improve: Travel comforts should be ensured. Facilities in running
trains .should be ensured. Quality of .accomodation and ava;lability
thereof should. be ensured. The administration shouid remain
always alive to the' position that every bona fide passenger is a gu~st D
. of the service. Ticketless travelling has to be totally wiped out.
-We· are of the view that it is this class of passengers which is a
menace to the system. Without ·any payment these Jaw breakers
disturb the administratfon and genuine passengers. Stringent Jaws
should be made and strictly enforced to free the Railways from this. E
deep roofed evil. · Security both to the travelling public as afso to
the non-travelling citizens musf be provided and tl;iis means that
accidents have to be avoided, attack on the persons of the passengers
and prying on their property has to stop. S-cie.ntific improvements·
made in .other countries and suitable to the system in our country
must be briskly adopted. The obligations cast by the Railways Act F
and the ·Rules under it must be complied with. It is relevant to
point out here that in the counter·affidavit . the respondents have
denied some of the assertions of the petitioner' • yet 'no dispute has
been generally raised to the stand taken in )he writ petition. We are
alive to the· fact that Government have limitations, both of resources G
and capacity, yet we hope that the Government and the Administra-·
tion .would rise to the necessity of the occasion and take it as a
challenge to improve this great public utility in an effective way and
with an adequate sense of urgency. If necessary, it shall set up a
high powered body to quickly ,handle the many faced problems H.
standing in the way. Giving directions in a matter. like this where
availability of resources has a materia( bearing, policy regarding
724 . SUPREME' COURT REPORTS . [1984] t s.c.R. •

· priorities is involved, expertise is very much in issue, is not prudent
A and we do not, therefore, propose tb issue directitms. We, however,
do hope and believe that early steps shall be'taken to implement in
a phased .manner the improvements referred to in the counter-
affidavit and in our decision .

B . · We. think it proper to conclude our decision by remembering
the · famous saying •of· Henry · Peter Broughan with cettain
adaptations :

"It was· the boast of Augustus that he found Rome
of bricks and left it of marble. But how noble will be
c the boast of the citizens of free India of today when .they
shall have it to say that they found iaw dear and left it
cheaper; found it a sealed book and left it a living letter;
found it, the patrimony of the rich and left it the ii:J.heri• .
lance of the poor; found it the two edged sword of craft
and oppression and left it the staff of honesty . and the
D
shieid of innocence."
•
It)s only .i'n a country of that order that the common man will 'have .
\
. his voice heard.

The dream can become a reality if every citiz~n •becomes aware ,)
of his duty and before asking for enforcement of his right, volunteers
to perform his obligation ..
, .
And before we part, we must record our' appreciation of the
performance of the petitioner. He has taken great pains to 'high-
F light bis stand-collected a lot of relevant material and argued ..his .
case .quite well•a doctor by profes.sion though.· . As this was a public
interest litigation, we direct thai he shall be. entitled to ,consolidated
cost of Rs. 5,000 recoverable from the Railway Ministry .of the Union
Government unless paid within two months hence. ' :->
' G
S.R.