UPA, Rly Ministry not to act on Banerjee report: HC

Ahmedabad, Mar 06: Gujarat High Court today (Mar 06, 2006) directed the Centre and the Railway Ministry not to take any action on the report sumbitted by the U C Banerjee Commission on the February, 2002, 'Sabarmati Express' fire incident.

In an interim order, the single judge bench of Justice M R Shah ordered a stay till March 8 on any action on it till it concludes hearing on a petition filed by a survivor, Neelkanth Bhatia.

The bench will take up the petition for hearing tomorrow.

Reprimanding the Railway ministry counsel, Justice Shah wondered how could the report be submitted and made public, in violation of its earlier interim order, which had asked the Commission not to make its report public.

''Not only the report was submitted, but it was also made public,'' the judge said, and admonished the counsel for not placing certain facts about the Commission before it.

Today's order is directed to respondents, including Union of India, Railway ministry, Commissioner of Railway Safety, Indian Railway (Western region), Chief Commissioner of Railway Safety, based in Mumbai, Secretary (Home Affairs), Delhi, Nanavati-Shah Commission, U C Banerjee Commission and the State of Gujarat.

The Banerjee Commission had, on March 3, submitted its final report to Railway Board Chairman J P Batra, in which it said that the fire was result of an accident.

The High Court in an interim order earlier, had said it could not make its findings public until there was a final order on the Neelkanth Bhatia petition before it.

Bhatia had moved the court in October, 2005, questioning the setting up of a commission when another one--Justice G T Nanavati-Justice K G Shah Commission, appointed by the Gujarat government, was already probing into incident and the riots that followed.

UNI

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