The new rule came into effect from December 1.
The court gave the direction on a Public Interest Litigation by N Logu, Secretary of Coimbatore Consumer Voice, who contended that the new condition was unreasonable and has brought great hardship and mental agony to passengers by asking them to carry original Identity Cards.
He also said many passengers may not have photo ID cards and it was "arbitrary" and "unlawful" to insist on minors and socially and economically backward people travelling on trains to carry original ID cards.
The first bench, comprising Chief Justice M Y Eqbal and Justice T S Sivagnanam, directed standing counsel for Railways to seek instructions and find out some simple procedures so that such people were not put to unnecessary difficulties.
"It is made clear that we are not staying rules issued by Railways," the bench said and posted the matter after two weeks.
The bench said this system is a very good measure to check middlemen who sell tickets to needy passengers and that it is only concerned over the lower, middle class and people from remote villages, as to the difficulty they would face.
