HC asks Railways to quote provision for tabling report

Ahmedabad, Aug 7 (UNI) The Gujarat High Court today admonished the Railway Ministry, asking it to explain under which provision it wanted to table in Parliament the U C Banerjee report about the Godhra fire.

However, the counsel of Railway Ministry was unable to quote the rule for laying the report in Parliament.

While officials of Railways reportedly had brought the report to the court, they did not submit the report as the Union Government wanted to place the report in Parliament and the Ministry wanted some more time.

The Railway Ministry had been telling the High Court that the Banerjee report had to be laid first in Parliament and later it would submit the report in the High Court.

The Railway Ministry's counsel said the Banerjee Committee was set up by the Union Government to probe the cause of fire in the S-6 coach in which 57 people were killed.

Expressing its anguish over the delay in submitting the report in the High Court, the court adjourned the hearing till September 6.

The division bench of Chief Justice Y R Meena and Justice Akil Kureshi repeatedly asked the Railway Ministry's counsel that under which clause of the term and reference of the Commission, the report had to be tabled in Parliament.

UNI