Bilaspur: In a tale that reads like a soap opera gone off the rails, Venkatgiri Rao, a station master in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, found his personal life colliding with his professional responsibilities in the worst possible way just because of one 'OK'. In the process, the Indian Railways lost more than just time after Rao's marital spat led to an unexpected route detour worth Rs 3 crores in damages.
The drama began one night in June 2012 when Venkatgiri Rao, hailing from Visakhapatnam, was on duty. In the middle of his shift, he received a call from his wife, when both indulged in a heated exchange of words. Their argument escalated, but Rao, attempting to de-escalate, ended the call with a tense 'OK' while he was simultaneously on another line with a signal man. However, this 'OK' was misinterpreted by the signal man, who assumed it was a go-ahead signal for a train. The result? A train was inadvertently sent into a restricted Naxal area, where rail traffic is prohibited overnight from 10 pm to 6 am. Due to the blunder, Railways lost Rs 3 crores while Rao faced suspension.
The station master, unable to handle the constant tension at home, approached the Visakhapatnam Family Court for divorce from his wife who hails from Bhilai in Durg district. However, with his wife making a plea in the Supreme Court, the case was transferred to Durg Family Court where his wife levelled allegations of dowry harassment against Rao and his family members. But the court rejected the pleas. Later Rao knocked the doors of Chhatisgarh High Court. According to his lawyer, Vipin Tiwari, the couple’s marital troubles had long affected Rao’s peace of mind, and the phone altercation that night was just one of many such disputes. On November 5, the High Court in Bilaspur accepted his divorce petition, ruling that his wife’s behavior amounted to mental cruelty.
But there’s more to the story. Rao and his wife married in April 2011. From the beginning, their relationship was fraught with difficulties. Rao alleges that shortly after their marriage, his wife confessed to having a relationship with a librarian at an engineering college. Despite reassurances from her family that she would sever ties with her lover, tensions persisted. Eventually, she accused Rao and his family of dowry harassment, though the High Court found no evidence to support these claims.
Allegation of mental cruelty against wife: The petitioner's lawyer said that during the hearing in Bilaspur High Court, it was found that the wife had filed a false report of dowry harassment against the husband and other relatives. In the High Court, the wife could not prove when and how the dowry amount was given. The Division Bench of Justice Rajni Dubey and Justice Sanjay Kumar Jaiswal of Chhattisgarh High Court considered this behavior of the wife as cruelty and canceled the decision of the Durg Family Court.
Rao’s case may just set a precedent but it remains a grim reminder that when it comes to late-night spats with your spouse during duty hours, silence is truly golden—or at least a lot cheaper than three crores.
