Indian farmer reaps a train after legal battle

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 Indian farmer reaps a train after legal battle

New Delhi - On Friday, Singh's lawyer said a court in the state had awarded him an express train in lieu of the Rs10 million ($150,000) he was owed.

By AFP

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Published: Fri 17 Mar 2017, 9:39 PM

Last updated: Fri 17 Mar 2017, 11:43 PM

An Indian farmer's battle for proper compensation for land seized to build a railway reached an unexpected conclusion this week when a court awarded him a train.
Sampuran Singh has been fighting for the money since 2015, when he went to court to argue that Indian Railways had paid him less for a piece of land in the northern state of Punjab acquired to build new tracks.
He won his case, but the railway refused to pay and he filed another plea in January.
On Friday, Singh's lawyer said a court in the state had awarded him an express train in lieu of the Rs10 million ($150,000) he was owed.
"We were tired of pleading with the railways to clear the pending dues. The court asked us to identify properties for recovering our money," Rakesh Gandhi said.
Judge Jaspal Verma also granted Singh ownership of the station master's office in Ludhiana, a city in Punjab that the train passes through.
After the hearing on Wednesday, Singh and his lawyer took the court order to Ludhiana station where they waited for the train to arrive before handing the document to the driver.
Singh said he allowed the driver to carry on to its destination as stopping it "would have caused inconvenience to thousands of passengers".
Railway officials later secured an interim court order giving them control of the train until the case is heard again on Saturday. "If they fail to pay the money by Saturday, then the court can sanction an auction," Gandhi said of the 20-coach express train, which runs daily between New Delhi and Amritsar in Punjab.
Several Indian courts in the past have unsuccessfully awarded trains to aggrieved farmers over unpaid dues.


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