Islamabad: Pakistan’s railways minister Sheikh Rashid was roasted by the Supreme Court here Tuesday for the state-run organisation’s poor performance with the top judge observing that the seasoned politician should have resigned after over 70 passengers were killed in a major train tragedy in Punjab province last year.
The three-member bench court also ordered 69-year-old Rashid, a known motormouth, to submit to the apex court a business plan to uplift Pakistan Railways from its current condition within two weeks, ‘Dawn’ newspaper reported.
While hearing a case related to the losses suffered by Pakistan Railways, the bench comprising Chief Justice of Pakistan Gulzar Ahmed, Justice Ijaz-ul-Ahsan and Justice Sajjad Ali Shah expressed displeasure with the railways minister over his running of the organisation, the report said.
The chief justice asked the minister to inform the court about the October 31 fire that engulfed a passenger train, killing 74 people when a gas cylinder brought by one of the travellers exploded.
“Your (Rashi’’s) entire performance is in front of us,” Justice Ahmed remarked. “Why should you not be held accountable for the deaths of 74 people? What investigation was conducted? You should have resigned after the incident,” he observed.
“Can you tell us why action should not be taken against you for the train accident that left over 70 dead? You are the top-most official after all,” the top judge said after hearing the minister’s reply.
“In my opinion, Pakistan Railways should be closed down. It is better that the department be closed down rather than letting it run the way you are running it,” Justice Ahmed said.
Rashid informed the court that 19 employees were held accountable for the accident.
“You sacked the gate-keeper and the driver. When will you act against the top officials involved in the incident?” Ahmed asked the minister. In his reply, Ahmed assured the chief justice of action against top railways officials.
“Being a seasoned politician, your performance should have been the best among the others, but your intuition is crumbling,” ‘The Express Tribune’ quoted Justice Ahmed as saying.
PTI