IHC orders Interior Ministry to file inquiry report in Court about Tezgam train fire incident

Islamabad High Court (IHC) has ordered the Ministry of Interior to submit inquiry report on Tezgam train fire incident in the court.

A single-judge bench of the Islamabad high court comprising Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kiyani in a previous hearing had issued a notice to the federal government over the Tezgam train fire incident in which 75 people died.

The government and the interior ministry were failed to submit their reply in the court over the matter despite the court orders. A petition filed by the Jurist Foundation Islamabad seeking an independent inquiry under the Pakistan Commissioner Inquiry Act 2017 for the October 31 tragedy.

Riaz Hanif Rahi Advocate appeared before the IHC court today, said that the evidence of the incident being wiped out. Railways Minister Shaikh Rashid had claimed that the fire erupted with the cylinder carrying in the train by the members of Tableeghi Jamaat, while the blaze was started from the business class of the train, the counsel of the petitioner argued.

The petitioner sought hearing of both parties while inquiring into the incident. “Improvements always come with the realization of shortcomings and strong commitment to overcome these but the unilateral stance of railways minister before the inquiry result has made it impossible to fix the liability of Tezgam inferno incident on the railway officials,” the petition reads.

The petition said that the promise to pay compensation to the legal heirs of the deceased and injured would remain a political commitment as there are many examples where promises are yet to be honoured. The FIR has been registered at the railway police station how could it help in transparent inquiry of the incident, the counsel questioned.

The train accidents have now become a routine, he further said. IHC adjourned further hearing of the case till the next week.