Kalka mail: HC tells Rly Min to file affidavit

Allahabad: The Allahabad High Court on Monday asked the Railway Ministry to file a detailed affidavit within two weeks in connection with the Kalka Mail derailment that left nearly 70 dead this month in Uttar Pradesh.

A Division Bench comprising Justice Imtiyaz Murtaza and Justice Jayashree Tiwari passed the order on a PIL filed by advocate Bharti Kashyap.

The petitioner requested the court to give directions to the Railway authorities for conducting a "high-level expert inquiry at national and international levels" into the July 10 accident.

The petition also sought action against "erring officials" besides making "public declaration of the reason of the accident of Kalka Mail".

The PIL alleged when the train jumped the tracks near Malwan in Fatehpur district at around 1220 hours, the accident was taken lightly.

When its grisliness was realised, the assistance of the Army was sought and relief operations could begin in full swing only after 1800 hours, it said.

The petitioner also drew the court's attention to the fact that the Chief Railway Commissioner, Safety, who is entrusted with investigations into rail mishaps, could not go into the causes of the accident 'independently' as he was "under the control of the Ministry for Railways".

The Bench expressed dissatisfaction with the reply of the Railways' counsel from whom it had sought to know details of inquiries conducted by the Chief Railway Commissioner, Safety, during 2010.

"When asked whether the inquiry being conducted by the Chief Railway Commissioner, Safety, (into the Kalka Mail accident) has been given any time-limit for submitting report, the counsel drew a blank," the Bench noted.

The counsel submitted he would not be able to make any statement "unless he is updated by the Railway authorities".

He also contended till the completion of the ongoing inquiry, any direction issued by the court could "hamper the investigation".

The court granted two weeks' time to the Railways for filing a detailed counter-affidavit.

The counsel should come to the court duly updated with instructions and directions, the Bench said.

"List this matter immediately after two weeks," it said.