The CSMT Railway court convicted a 36-year-old, Allauddin Qureshi, who was arrested for purchasing reserved railway tickets from the railway ticket window and selling the same with his additional commission of Rs 300-400 on each of the reserved tickets. The court which pronounced the judgment, held that though the accused initially had decided to challenge the case, but had accepted his crime while the court was recording the accused's statement (section 313 CrPc.), since Qureshi had already undergone his punishment for one month during the trial phase, his punishment was set off, but he was awarded with a fine of Rs 5000.
As per the prosecution’s case, the Anti Tout Squad, in April 2017, had received a tip-off regarding the illegal ticketing business carried out at the Chembur reservation center. Accordingly, the squad was on a regular check to nab the accused. Finally, on April 18, they found Qureshi moving around the premises of the ticketing counter in a suspicious manner. On questioning the accused of his activity, he failed to answer the squad.
Qureshi was found in possession of two reserved railway tickets, valued at Rs 2,940. The squad on verifying the personal details of the accused confirmed that he was not a licensed railway agent and was running an illegal business of selling the tickets.
The court examined only one witness in the case, the officer, who caught the accused in possession of the reserved tickets. Also, the accused, too, had admitted to his crime, stating that by purchasing the reserved tickets, he was trying to help the needy people and thus that is the prime reason for which he was pursuing this business illegally.
Qureshi was held guilty under section 143 of the Railways Act.
