Chitradurga: We have heard stories about vehicles getting seized by police for carrying illegal materials or vehicles being seized by finance companies/banks for non-payment of loan etc- but for the first time ever here is a story of a train being seized on orders of the court for non-payment of compensation to farmers. That’s what happened owing to the failure of the Railways to compensate land-losers of a project.
In an unprecedented incident, the District Principal and Sessions Court ordered seizure of the Harihar–Chitradurga–Bengaluru Passenger (train no. 56520) for the failure of the Railways to pay Rs. 1 crore as compensation to 50 farmers for acquiring their land for a project. On Thursday, the train was seized at Chitradurga Railway Station, even as there were travellers on board. There was much drama when, as per the court’s order, authorities came to the station and made alternative arrangements for more than 100 passengers to reach their destination before seizing the train.
Railways authorities rushed to the spot and appealed to the authorities to release the train in the interest of passengers. They also approached the court seeking some more time to pay the compensation. After railway authorities filed an appeal later in the day, the court told them to complete settlement of the compensation in 45 days and released the train.
According to official sources, the Railways had acquired land for the Chitradurga–Rayadurga line in 1986 by paying a nominal compensation to the land-losers. But in 1991, the land-losers approached court seeking more compensation. Some time ago, the court had instructed authorities to seize the train. In an appeal, the Railways sought two months to pay the compensation to farmers. When it failed to pay up in the stipulated time, the court ordered seizure of the train on January 25.
Note : Picture for illustration only
