Delhi HC Rejects DMRC Engineer’s Plea Over Ticket Machine Theft, Slaps Rs 25K Fine
The Delhi High Court has recently dismissed a petition filed by Junior Engineer at Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), challenging disciplinary proceedings initiated against him for allegedly stealing a Ticket Office Machine (TOM) and its components from DMRC and running an illegal smart card recharge operation from his residence, which reportedly caused a loss of Rs 28 lakhs to the corporation.
The order was passed by a Division Bench comprising Justices C. Hari Shankar and Ajay Digpaul while hearing a plea by one Vijender Kumar, who had challenged the Central Administrative Tribunal’s (CAT) order dated July 1, 2025.
The Tribunal had upheld Rule 42(6) of the DMRC (Conduct, Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 2021 and rejected Kumar’s petition.
Kumar had sought permission to appoint an advocate as his defence assistant during the departmental inquiry and requested a stay on the disciplinary proceedings until the conclusion of a parallel criminal case against him.
Refusing to stay the proceedings, the court observed, “Clearly, therefore, the attempt of the petitioner, from the very beginning, culminating in the filing of the present petition, is only to stultify the disciplinary proceedings against him, without allowing them to continue to fruition.”
It added, “We, accordingly, dismiss this writ petition with costs of Rs. 25,000 to be paid to the National Defence Fund within a period of four weeks. Let the costs be paid online through the NDF portal, and proof thereof be filed with the Registry of this Court immediately thereafter.”
An FIR had been registered against Kumar under Sections 420, 120B, 34 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, at the Ghitorni Police Station in Delhi on January 3, 2023.
He was accused of stealing a TOM7 machine, including its Central Processing Unit, Card Reader, and Crypto module from DMRC premises, and installing it at his residence in Greater Noida. From there, he allegedly issued illegally recharged smart cards, which were later sold by co-accused Mohit Gupta for personal profit. DMRC claimed to have suffered a loss of Rs 28 lakhs due to this operation.
Following the FIR, both Kumar and Gupta were arrested on January 4, 2023.
Before the High Court, the petitioner reiterated his challenge to Rule 42(6), arguing that denial of legal assistance during the inquiry infringed his right against self-incrimination under Article 20(3) of the Constitution.
DMRC countered that Kumar had initially agreed to represent himself and had not raised any objection to the absence of legal assistance at the time. The corporation also pointed out that the Presenting Officer was not legally trained, and hence there was no entitlement to legal representation.
After hearing arguments from both sides, the court said, “It is clear that the petitioner has no case whatsoever and has, in fact, used the Tribunal and now this court to impede progress in the disciplinary proceedings against him.”
“We are in agreement with the Tribunal that the challenge to Rule 42(6) of the 2021 Rules is completely without substance. Indeed, we reiterate our view that this challenge was merely a tactic to protract the disciplinary proceedings. We strongly deprecate such efforts.”
Accordingly, the court dismissed the petition and imposed costs of Rs 25,000 on the petitioner, directing that the amount be deposited with the National Defence Fund within four weeks.
Case Title: Vijender Kumar v. Delhi Metro Rail Corporation & Ors.
Order Date: July 18, 2025
Bench: Justices C. Hari Shankar and Ajay Digpaul