HC dismisses Railways appeal on Banerjee panel report

Ahmedabad, Mar 20: Gujarat High Court today ruled the U C Banerjee Commission, which described the Godhra train carnage as an ''accident'', should not have been appointed as it discussed an appeal by the Railways Ministry against the single-judge bench order staying any further action on the panel's report.

Coming down heavily on the Commission for making its report public, the HC observed that there was a prima facie case in favour of the petitioner under section 3 of the Commission of Inquiry Act and section 119 of Railway Act.

The Railway had challenged that the stay had been granted by a single judge bench of the same court on Tuesday while hearing a petition, filed by a survivor, that had challenged the very validity of the U C Banerjee Commission, appointed by the Railway Ministry to probe certain aspects of the fire in S6 coach of the Sabarmati Express train, when a Commission appointed by the state government was already in place.

Railway questioned the locus standi of the petitioner Nilkanth Bhatia to object to the setting up of the high-level Commission, alleging that the constitution of the panel would prejudice a trial, as he was not an aggrieved party and it directly did not concern him who was conducting the probe.

Mr Bhatia in his petition had questioned the setting up of the panel after two and half years when the state government already had appointed a Commission of Inquiry.

The court also expunged the part of the single-judge bench order which said that by submitting the report the Commission has overreached the process of law, while pointing out that there was no interim stay on the submission of the report.

UNI