New Delhi: The fate of nine-year-old Sandarbh Gupta, suffering from multiple congenital disorders, including myelomeningocele (MMC), currently hangs in limbo, with the railways refusing to accept his representation to transfer his father to Dehradun.
Sandarbh’s father works as a technician with Northern Railway and is posted in Lucknow, more than 10 hours away from the family residence near Dehradun.
The boy, paralysed from the waist down, earlier made a representation to Indian Railways following an Uttarakhand High Court order in January directing the Moradabad divisional railway manager (DRM) to consider his father’s transfer request. The boy requested compassionate consideration, stating he is completely dependent on his father for survival and hygiene. But he received no response.
Now, Sandarbh has approached the Delhi High Court with his plea, seeking judicial intervention for the second time. On Monday, the Delhi HC issued a notice to the railways, observing, “The petitioner is a 100 percent disabled child. His father is an Indian Railways employee posted in Lucknow, and is the sole-earning member and primary caregiver.” The court sought the railways’ response, giving them two weeks.
Underlining that the presence of Sandarbh’s father next to him was indispensable as his “mother has a back issue and haemoglobin issues” and also had fallen down, the Delhi High Court noted, “She is presently around 30 kg. Hence, she is unable to carry the child, who is also nearly the same weight.”
Before the Delhi High Court, the Indian Railways counsel said the department is one of the “largest employers on this planet” and, therefore, “its policies are also framed in a broad manner”.
Today’s hearing
The Delhi High Court was informed about the litigation history—first before the Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities (CCPD), followed by the Central Administrative Tribunal, Lucknow, and the most recent before the Uttarakhand HC—Sandarbh’s advocates Rahul Bajaj and Sarah told the bench.
Pointing to the “inaction” of authorities, especially the Northern Railway general manager, who knew of Sandarbh’s medical condition and his complete dependence on his father for daily care, the petitioners informed the court that despite all the litigation, there had been no response.
Underlining that the case revolved around the rights of a child who suffered from a 100 percent locomotor disability, it was argued that the child’s fundamental right to movement was under threat, despite his school being 100 metres away from his home in Dehradun.
The Delhi High Court asked if it was proper for it to decide the case, considering it had been escalated thrice before different forums.
Responding, Bajaj noted that the Northern Railway general manager is empowered to consider and forward transfer requests on an out-of-turn basis in exceptional circumstances and has the power to decide the matter. But nonetheless, they told the court, there has been continued inaction on the last two pleas.
The CCPD, Bajaj said, passed an order in December 2024, “strongly recommending” reconsideration of the transfer request, also demanding an action-taken report within three months.
When Sandarbh’s request was rejected by the railways earlier, in October 2021, the reason given by the authorities was that his father’s medical category was below C1. In August 2023, his father sought conversion of his cadre from ‘technical’ to ‘junior clerk’ or any other C1 category post. However, the railways denied this request on the grounds that such a change was not permissible.
“This prohibition on changing categories of employees from technical to clerical is on the divisional railway manager, not on the general manager,” Bajaj argued.
Journey from Uttarakhand to Delhi
The Uttarakhand HC had directed the DRM Moradabad to take a decision on the boy’s plea within two weeks. The DRM denied the boy’s request on the grounds that a sanctioned post in the relevant technical cadre was unavailable and that there was a mismatch in the employee’s medical category.
However, the family, undeterred, approached the Northern Railway general manager on 26 January, requesting the transfer on humanitarian grounds. To that representation by the boy’s father, the authorities have not responded so far. On 26 February, Sandarbh approached the general manager again, highlighting his severe medical condition and complete dependence on his father for daily care, and requested the father’s transfer to Dehradun on humanitarian grounds, but there has also been no response to that.
Half a decade after the first transfer request in 2021 in front of the deputy chief electrical engineer, Alambagh (Lucknow), to tend to his disabled son’s needs, Sanjay Gupta’s transfer still lies in limbo.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
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