Station Master's 'OK' in a heated phone call with wife costs Railways Rs 3 cr; Here's how

A station master in Chhattisgarh mistakenly sent a freight train down a wrong route in a Maoist-affected area while on a phone call with his wife. His casual "OK" on the call was misinterpreted by staff as a green signal, leading to a Rs 3 crore loss for Indian Railways.

The incident also escalated tensions in the station master's already strained marriage, leading to a lengthy legal battle for divorce. According to The Times of India, the couple recently finalized their divorce after 12 years of court proceedings.

That night, the station master from Visakhapatnam, while on duty, had a heated phone conversation with his wife, ending with “We’ll talk at home, OK?”. Unaware that his microphone was on, his colleague mistook the “OK” as clearance to dispatch a freight train into a restricted Maoist-affected area. Fortunately, no accidents occurred, but the mistake led Indian Railways to pay a Rs 3 crore fine for violating night-time regulations.

Following his suspension, the station master filed for divorce in a Visakhapatnam family court. In response, his wife complained to him and his family. She then successfully petitioned the Supreme Court to transfer the case to Durg, her hometown, citing threats to her life.

However, when the Durg family court dismissed his divorce plea, the official turned to the Chhattisgarh High Court. A division bench there found the wife’s accusations against him and his family to be false, ultimately granting the divorce.

The bench observed that the wife's argument during the phone call, which led to the 'OK' incident, along with her baseless accusations, amounted to "cruelty" towards her husband.

The High Court found the wife's accusations of her husband's affair, dowry demands, and cruelty to be unfounded. A division bench granted the husband a divorce, concluding that her constant arguments, false claims, and baseless allegations amounted to "mental cruelty."