Shutter costs railway officials dear

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: You may have seen raised window shutters in trains come crashing down abruptly with a bang. You might also have exclaimed aloud how fortunate it was that it didn’t fall on someone’s hand. Now, it appears that the shutters came crashing down once too often. The Kerala State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has ordered Railway officials to compensate a passenger who lost his finger tip after a window shutter fell on it ten years ago. Commission member M K Abdullasona and Judicial Member M V Viswanathan has ordered the General Manager, Southern Railway, Chennai, to pay Dr M H Rahimkutty of ‘Reesni,’ Vattiyoorkavu, Thiruvananthapuram, ` 40,000 with an interest of 12 per cent as compensation (from the date of the incident) for injuries he sustained in the accident. The officials concerned have to shell out the money from their own pockets, the Commission has ordered.The incident pertaining to the case occurred in 2001, according to Rahimkutty’s advocate Sreevarahom N G Mahesh. A regular passenger from Thiruvananthapuram on the Jayanthi Janatha Express, Rahimkutty, a professor at MSM College, Kayamkulam, had a window seat on July 31, 2001 - the fateful day. When the train reached Kaniyapuram, the raised shutter came crashing down on his right hand. He sustained a serious injury on the hand as the tip of the ring finger was chopped off. Rahimkutty subsequently filed a complaint before the District Consumer Forum, but lost. He then approached the State Forum with an appeal. Rahimkutty argued that the lower forum had not considered the statement of a fellow passenger. This, according to the state-level commission, went against the spirit of the Consumer Protection Act. The Southern Railway General Manager has been directed to order the money to be paid by the officials concerned. The Commission noted that the Railway is a prestigious institution of the people of India and so the money should not come out of Railway funds.