The right to resist overcrowding

We desire to invite the attention of the public to the decision of a first class magistrate in the Madras Presidency who has held that resisting the entrance of passengers into a railway carriage which is already full is not an offence under the Railway Act. The circumstances in which this decision was given may be briefly described as follows: In the Madura district a passenger had been fined Rs 25 in a lower court for resisting entry into a compartment, obstructing a railway servant in the discharge of his duty and using obscene language. The case went up to a first class magistrate in appeal and the appeal was successful. The passenger's contention was that the carriage in which he sat was more than full when the station master wanted to push two new comers in. The passenger resisted but he was pulled out and detained while the new comers were accommodated.