Station Master’s ‘OK’ Costs Railways Rs 3 Crore Due to Miscommunication
Station Master's 'OK' Costs Railways Rs 3 Crore Due to Miscommunication
In one notable case, a seemingly harmless phone conversation between an employee and his wife turned out to be extremely expensive, causing a loss of Rs 3 crores for the Railways. The station master, while distracted by his chat with his wife during work hours, casually replied with an “OK” to a question. This casual response was misinterpreted as an approval by a loco pilot, who then directed a train straight into a Naxal stronghold. The department acted quickly, suspending the station master for his poor judgment. His attempt to conclude a tense phone call with his wife using the word “OK” led to unexpected repercussions, as it was wrongly taken as permission to send a train into a Naxal-affected region, triggering a series of events.
The station master, who lived in Visakhapatnam, was married to a woman from Durg. Court documents reveal that they registered their marriage on October 12, 2011. However, the bride’s unresolved feelings for an ex-lover caused issues in their marriage. She admitted to her husband about her emotional attachment, which created tension between them.
Despite reassurances from her parents, she kept in touch with her former partner, even making phone calls in her husband’s presence. Their relationship was already fragile when one night, she called the station master during his shift, leading to yet another argument. Wanting to end the conversation quickly, he said, “We will talk at home, okay?” not realizing that his microphone was still on. His colleague, hearing just the “OK,” mistakenly interpreted it as permission to allow a goods train on a restricted route. Although there was no accident, this breach of night-time restrictions resulted in a significant loss of Rs 3 crores for the Railways.
The station master’s suspension only made his marital issues worse. Frustrated and at his breaking point, he decided to file for divorce in a family court in Visakhapatnam. In response, his wife filed a complaint against him under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code, accusing him of cruelty and harassment. She also named several family members, including his 70-year-old father, elder brother, sister-in-law, and maternal uncle, in her complaint.
Claiming that she faced life threats, she took the matter to the Supreme Court, which agreed to transfer the case to Durg. However, when the family court in Durg rejected the divorce plea, the railway employee sought help from the Chhattisgarh High Court, as stated by his lawyer.
The High Court found the wife’s allegations accusing her husband of having an affair with his sister-in-law, making dowry demands, and inflicting cruelty were unfounded. Ultimately, a division bench granted the man a divorce, concluding that his wife’s constant arguments over the phone, along with her false accusations and baseless claims, constituted “mental cruelty.”
