Manju, whose seat number was 17 in coach number 7 (ticket number 10895618) had to go to Delhi for a medical check up. The train left Ambala at 12.57 a.m. When Manju Jain entered the coach, she was surprised to see a woman sitting in her seat. The woman told Manju's husband, who had come to see her off, that the conductor had allowed her to occupy the seat from her original seat in coach number 3. Although Manju Jain requested her to vacate the seat, she refused to do so. Manju had to stand till the train steamed out of the station. The conductor was not available so she could not do anything.

Manju's husband Ashok Jain, a leading industrialist, tried to locate the conductor to get a seat for his wife but could not do so. Later, he approached the assistant station master to lodge a complaint, who said that only a bonafide passenger possessing a ticket could make the complaint. Jain said that he tried to contact the senior divisional commercial manager and other authorities of railway as the ASM had refused to register his complaint, but he was told they were away on tour. Under the railway rules, no change of seat is permitted once it is confirmed.