LAHORE - Lahore High Court (LHC) Chief Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah on Friday expressed dismay over government’s failure to amend the law imposing Rs500 fine on oil tankers carelessly carrying inflammable material on the roads.

The chief justice gave these remarks while hearing a public interest petition seeking action against those responsible for the Ahmadpur East oil tanker tragedy in which at least 210 people were killed and several others injured two days before Eid.

The CJ asked that why an FIR had not been registered against the private oil company and the contractor who took the tanker to the road despite expiry of its licence. He read the relevant law of Petroleum Act 1934 that imposes Rs500 fine on owners of vehicles carrying petroleum without valid licences and Rs2,000 fine on those committing the same offence again. He directed the government to review the law and prescribe a strict punishment for violators.

Helms Foundation, an NGO, moved the petition through Advocate Safdar Shaheen Pirzada and prayed to the court to hold all departments concerned responsible for the oil tanker tragedy in Ahmadpur East.

During the proceedings, National Highways and Motorway Police officials confessed before the court that police could not reach the scene. They said that motorway police did not have training to deal with such incidents. The incident took place at 5am and police reached there at 7am. They said there were three police stations around the place of the tragic incident.

An Explosives Department official told the court that licence of the oil tanker had expired last year. He said it was Explosives Department’s duty to check oil tanker’s condition. He said the oil tanker was issued fitness certificate by the Motor Vehicle Authority. The official said that Shell company and its contractor had been served legal notice for not renewing licence of the oil tanker.

As the judge asked the Explosives Department official that why action was not taken against those responsible for the incident, he said that under the law the department could only impose a Rs500 fine on the oil tanker. If an FIR is registered against the local oil company, its supply can be stopped, the official stated. The official’s reply irked the chief justice and he asked him that who had stopped them from enforcing the law.

“It was responsibility of the private company to compensate the victims of the oil tanker incident. Under what law public money is being distributed to victims?” the chief justice asked. He said, “Such a low fine of Rs500? How such incidents can be controlled if there is no strict punishment? Is the federal government in slumber?” he asked. The CJ also asked, “Why the law was not amended?”

The chief justice asked that why the company should not be blacklisted for negligence. An Ogra director told the court that a Rs10 million fine had been imposed on the company. He said that Ogra had asked the company to pay Rs1 million to every person’s family who lost his life and Rs500,000 to every injured person. He said the company had been given three days to pay this compensation. Chief Justice Shah directed the counsel for Shell to apprise the court at the next hearing of the steps taken by the company for compensation to the victims. The chief justice adjourned the hearing for a week and sought reports from all respondent departments.

FIDA HUSSNAIN