Railways Act, 1989 – Section 143 –Taking active steps, however faithfully, in order to acquire and provide tickets to third parties but without being a railway servant or an authorised agent would attract the expression ‘procure and supply’ as in Section 143 – Section 143 makes no distinction between physical and online sale of tickets and criminalises unauthorised procurement and supply, irrespective of the mode of procurement and supply- Mere fact of the system of e-reservation and e-tickets being introduced after the enactment of the Act does not render the provision in Section 143 toothless to combat the illegal sale of e-tickets- The net of its coverage is wide enough to encompass regulation of the conduct of ticketing agents and to protect the public from unscrupulous elements trying to defraud them by sale of valueless tickets. (Para 27-29)
Railways Act, 1989 – Section 143 – Section 143 does not criminalise creating multiple user IDs. It penalises the actions of only the unauthorised agents and not unauthorised actions of the authorised agents – Any breach has to be remedied by civil action and not criminal action.
Interpretation of Statutes – No court can refuse to enforce a provision on the sole basis of the provision predating any subsequent development- If it can be demonstrated that a statutory provision is broad enough to envelop the subsequent developments, even if the developments were not envisioned by the legislature, the provision would stay operational. (Para 21) – If the language of the particular statute under consideration is clear and unambiguous, it is not for the courts to add to or delete any words from the statute in the guise of ascertaining what could have been the legislative intent. (Para 26)
Code of Criminal Procedure 1973 – Section 482 – Quashing of a criminal proceeding can take place, inter alia, if the first information report does not reveal a crime or if the fact situation be such that continuance of the criminal proceedings would result in abuse of the process causing injustice to the accused. This power of quashing, however, is not unfettered or unlimited and as the old adage goes – “judicial discretion has to be exercised judiciously”. (Para 33)