‘Court cannot direct Railways to set up stations’

When the public interest litigation moved by a resident of Otteri came up, the first bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramaoorthy said, “There are several considerations that may go into the decision-making process. Survey of the number of passengers, the location, advantages and disadvantages, and millions of other aspects, and is best left to the wisdom of the Railways.”

The bench directed the petitioner to file a fresh detailed representation along with previous reports and recommendation in four weeks, based on which the Railways can take a decision within eight weeks. The bench made it clear that it did not recommend the plea either directly or indirectly.

The petitioner, VG Thiruvengadam, had submitted that a public campaign by the residents was in progress for creating a station at Otteri but the Railways have proposed additional tracks instead of a station.