- (1.) This writ application had been preferred challenging the impugned denial of the railways to refund an amount of Rs.14,24,678/- which had been illegally collected from the petitioners as punitive charges.
(2.) In the writ application it had been averred, inter alia, that the petitioner no.1 is an exporter of iron ore fines and in course of the business the petitioner no.1 purchased iron ore fines from Orissa Mineral Development Company Ltd., (hereinafter referred to as the OMDC), a Government of India Enterprise. The said private siding is served by Barajamda Railway Station, which is the starting/forwarding station and an electric-in-motion weigh bridge stands installed there. On 12th February, 2009, about 3700- M.T. of iron ore fines was loaded at Barajamda Railway Station. As per the policy guideline weighment of any bulk goods is to be conducted at the forwarding station, provided there is a weigh bridge in the said station. In spite of availability of a weigh bridge at Barajamda, the load was weighed at the Dangoapusi Railway Station which is about 30 K.M. away from the forwarded station. According to the petitioners the weigh bridge at Dangoapusi Railway Station was a defective one. Thereafter on 13th February, 2009 at late hours the petitioner was issued a railway receipt claiming an amount of Rs.14,24,678/- on account of punitive charges and the petitioners were compelled to make the said payment. As 14th and 15th of February, 2009 were Saturday and Sunday respectively, the petitioner no.1 made a representation to the respondent no.2 on 16th of February, 2009 alleging inter alia that the weighment was made without any notice to the petitioners and at their back in a faulty weigh bridge and that the petitioners had to pay the punitive charges under compulsion, otherwise the office refused to handover the railway receipt and that the punitive charges payment was a payment under protest. By the said representation the petitioners further prayed for reweighment of the rake in question but the railway authorities did not respond to the same and no reweighment was done and the rake was unloaded at Paradeep, i.e., the destination station. Aggrieved by such action of the respondents, the petitioner had approached this Court through this instant application under Article 226 of the Constitution of India.
(3.) In the backdrop of the said facts, Mr. Kalyan Bandopadhyay, learned senior counsel, assisted by Mr. Agarwal, learned advocate, appearing for the petitioners, submits that the respondents have illegally denied to reweigh the rake at the destination station in spite of a prayer made to that effect by the petitioners, prior to unloading on 16th February, 2009. A weighment was conducted by the Railways at Dangoapusi Railway Station without notice to the petitioners and that as such the petitioners availed no opportunity whatsoever to be present at the said reweighment site. The petitioners were compelled to make payment of the punitive charges, which the petitioners paid under protest as they were threatened of withholding of the railway receipts. Even in the destination station, the respondents could have conducted a reweighment in the presence of the petitioners on the basis of the representation duly received by the concerned authority on 16th February, 2009, prior to unloading of the rake.;