ISLAMABAD - The Supreme Court of Pakistan Friday summoned Federal Minister for Railways Sheikh Rashid and Federal Minister for Planning Asad Umar on February 12 in a case related to the losses incurred by the Pakistan Railways.
A three-member bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Gulzar Ahmed would resume the hearing of Railways losses case.
On the previous hearing, the Chief Justice had directed the minister to apprise the court about the October 2019 train fire incident, killing 73 passengers due to alleged blast of a gas cylinder.
Justice Gulzar had asked the minister that he should have quit iafter that big tragedy. The CJP had also asked Rashid what steps he had taken to steer the railways out of the prevailing crisis.
The bench had asked the minister to present a business plan on the next hearing and warned that if there were any deviation from the plan presented in the court, action would be taken.
The bench had expressed its annoyance over the audit report on Railways, saying that the Railways record is still manual. He had taken notice that neither the passengers train nor the goods trains are working. The passengers do not feel safe, while travelling on train. Neither the tracks nor the stations nor signals are in good condition.
The court also ordered that the six kilometers portion of the Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) be completed in two weeks and instructed the Sindh government to provide all assistance on the project.
