Guj HC asks Railway Ministry to place Banerjee panel report

Ahmedabad, July 31 (UNI) The Gujarat High Court today directed the Railway Ministry to submit the U C Banerjee report on August 7.

The direction was issued by Chief Justice Y R Meena and Justice Akil Kureshi after the counsel for the Railway Ministry submitted that the report has to laid on the table of Parliament.

The court said it has not questioned the prerogative of the Speaker but only wants the report to be placed before it.

The bench questioned as to under which rule the Ministry has to place the report in Parliament, since the Banerjee panel was set up by the Railway Ministry and not by any Parliament rule or act.

The one-member Banerjee committee was set up by the Railway Ministry to probe the circumstances leading to the burning of coach S-6 of the Sabarmati Express at Godhra on February 28, 2002 in which 57 people had died. After the burning of the train, widespread communal riots had erupted in the state in which a large number of people were killed.

The High Court, on October 13, 2006, had already declared as ''unconstitutional, illegal and void'' the setting up of the Banerjee Committee to investigate the cause of fire in the S-6 coach. The committee was set up by the Railway Ministry in September 2004.

UNI