Worldwide Rail Journeys Pvt. Ltd. Vs Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation Ltd.

“a. Declare that the Respondent (RTDC) does not possess any jurisdiction or authority to retain the advance booking amounts collected by it for train operations, when admittedly the said train operations were not carried out by the Respondent on the dates for which the bookings had been made;

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b. Declare that the Respondent (RTDC) does not possess any jurisdiction or authority to compel tourists who have made bookings for specific dates, to shift their bookings to subsequent dates and pay higher tariffs, solely on account of the failure of RTDC to operate the trains on the dates for which the bookings had been made;

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c. Declare the impugned actions of the Respondent in refusing to refund the advance booking amounts paid by tourists, despite their bookings not having been honoured, as entirely arbitrary, illegal, unlawful and violative of Article 14 of the Constitution of India;

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d. Issue a writ of Certiorari or any other writ, order or direction for quashing and set aside the Office Order dated 03.01.2023 issued by

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This is a digitally signed order.

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The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 13/02/2026 at 11:14:25

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RTDC numbered as S.N. POW/2022-23/590 being without jurisdiction, arbitrary, illegal and violative of the Constitution of India including Articles 14 and 21 thereof;

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e. Issue a Writ of mandamus, or any other appropriate Writ, Order or Direction to the Respondent (RTDC) to immediately and forthwith refund the amount of Rs. 3,56,16,953.11/- [alongwith interest @ 12% p.a.], being the amount collected by RTDC from tourists, as “advance booking amount” for Palace on Wheels train for the travel dates in 2020-21 and 2021-22 [from 18.03.2020 to 30.04.2022], and when admittedly the said bookings have not been honoured by RTDC during the said dates.”

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The petitioner besides various other challenges essentially seeks to assail office order dated 03.01.2023. It remains undisputed that pursuant to an arbitration clause the respondent herein had approached the High Court of Judicature for Rajasthan, at Jaipur Bench, Jaipur in S.B. Civil Arbitration Application No.95/2023 and the said Court vide order dated 10.01.2025 has appointed an Arbitrator. The matter is thus pending for adjudication of the rights and claims of the parties before the Arbitrator.

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Learned counsel for the petitioner however contends that in the instant writ petition the petitioner has assailed the policy of the respondent and their authority to frame such an arbitrary policy. The rights which the petitioner is claiming are on the basis of the agreement which was entered. If the policy of the respondent is resulting in any financial damages to the petitioner, the petitioner shall be entitled to raise those issues before the concerned Arbitrator. The Court has held in various cases that when there exists an arbitration clause between the parties the writ Court must not exercise simultaneous jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution of India. A reference can be made to the decision of the Supreme Court in the

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This is a digitally signed order.

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The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 13/02/2026 at 11:14:25

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cases of GAIL (India) Ltd. v. Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation Ltd² ., and Nirmal Software Services Pvt. Ltd. v. Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar³ ,

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With these observations, the writ petition stands dismissed. Pending applications shall also stand disposed of.

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All rights and contentions of the parties are left open.

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PURUSHAINDRA KUMAR KAURAV, J

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FEBRUARY 10, 2026 tr/ap

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1 ( 2024) 1 SCC 329

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2 ( 2019) 7 SCC 356.

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This is a digitally signed order. The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 13/02/2026 at 11:14:25

Worldwide Rail Journeys Pvt. Ltd. v. Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation Ltd.

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Worldwide Rail Journeys Pvt. Ltd. v. Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation Ltd.

Case brief

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