Tezgam fire incident: IHC reserves verdict over maintainability of petition

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday reserved verdict over maintainability of a petition seeking an independent inquiry into Tezgam Express train fire incident. A single bench of Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani heard the petition of Riaz Hanif Rahi Advocate, President of Jurist Foundation, seeking an independent inquiry into Tezgam train fire incident, and reserved the decision after hearing arguments of all the parties.

During the hearing, the bench observed that resignation due to any accident is always tendered on moral grounds but morality has not reached at that level yet in Pakistan. Justice Kayani stated that the Interior Ministry was conducting its own inquiry, while the police and the railways were investigating the matter separately.

The ministries of interior and railways submitted a report that holds 15 people responsible for the tragedy. The officials also informed the court that disciplinary action had been initiated against all of them. According to the report, Karachi's deputy divisional superintendent, divisional commercial officer, and the SHOs of Hyderabad and Khanpur have been held guilty of negligence, while reservation supervisor Qamar Shah has also been held responsible for irregularities.

In this tragic incident, at least 74 people were killed and dozens were injured on October 31, 2019, after a gas cylinder exploded in the train near Rahim Yar Khan's Liaqatpur area. The Tezgam train was on its way from Karachi to Rawalpindi, when the gas cylinder carried by a passenger exploded, killing and injuring the passengers.

The petitioner filed the petition seeking removal of Federal Minister for Railways Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, and an independent inquiry under the Pakistan Commissioner Inquiry Act, 2017 for the October 31 tragedy. The petitioner adopted in the petition that the federal minister had claimed that the fire was a result of passengers attempting to cook food using a cylinder in the moving train. He said that both the parties should be heard under Section 24-A of the General Clauses Act 1897.

"Moreover a man who believes unilateral view is not righteous within the definition of Article 62(I) (1) of the 1973 Constitution," stated the petition, adding that the railways minister had lost "legal, religious, ethical and constitutional" justification to remain in office after believing in one-side view - that of the train officials - and officiating a response without the completion of the inquiry. The petitioner also questioned that why still Prime Minister Imran Khan had not asked Rashid to resign.

He submitted that in the past, PM Imran had urged for ministers to resign to ensure transparent inquiries. "Improvements always come with the realization 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," stated the petition.

He stressed that no "meaningful" reforms could take place in such a situation. He added that the promise to pay compensation to the legal heirs of the deceased and injured would remain a political commitment as there were many examples where promises were yet to be fulfilled.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020