Railways minister’s removal plea IHC issues notice to federal govt over Tezgam incident

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court Friday issued a notice to the federal government over the Tezgam train incident.

The court directed the federal government to submit reply until November 22. Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani of the IHC heard a petition seeking the removal of Railways Minister Sh Rashid and an independent inquiry under the Pakistan Commissioner Inquiry Act 2017 for the October 31 tragedy.

During proceedings of the case, the counsel for the petitioner said railway business class boogie caught fire and many valuable lives were lost in the accident.

Referring to railways minister’s claim that the fire was a result of passengers attempting to cook food using a gas cylinder in the moving train, the petition sought hearing of both parties under Section 24-A of the General Clauses Act 1897. The petitioner also asked why Prime Minister Imran Khan had not sought Sh Rashid’s resignation yet.

In the past, PM Imran had urged the ministers to resign for ensuring transparent inquiries, he informed the high court. Improvements always come with the realisation of shortcomings and strong commitment to overcome these but the unilateral stance of railway minister before the inquiry result has made it impossible to fix the liability of Tezgam inferno incident on the railway officials, reads the petition. He stressed no meaningful reforms could take place in such a situation.