Days when courts were neglected are long gone, CJP tells Saad Rafique

Railways minister says institution's improvement will still take 10 to 12 years

The chief justice of Pakistan said on Saturday that the days when courts were neglected are long gone.

During the hearing of a suo motu case on the loss of Rs60 billion in Pakistan Railways, Justice Mian Saqib Nisar summoned Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique to the rostrum and asked him to apprise the court of the amount of loss Pakistan Railways has incurred.

The CJP also asked the railways minister about the number of train accidents that have taken place during his tenure.



In reference to the army train accident in which 17 soldiers were martyred, Rafique said that the cause of the accident was speeding. However, the CJP remarked that the minister had placed all the responsibility of the accident on the driver.

Rafique told the court he was at the hearing not for a political speech but to show the work Pakistan Railways was doing. However, he was told to stay quiet until given permission, upon which he said he would leave the court if the CJP did not want to hear him.

Justice Nisar said he was well aware of Rafique's intentions for coming to the hearing and said he may leave if he wishes, after which the SC would proceed with contempt of court against him.



Speaking to media outside the SC registry, the railways minister said he had always made efforts for the betterment of railways.

"I improved the condition of passenger trains and fired no permanent employees," he said, adding that he is waiting for someone to show up and do better work than him.

"Railways is earning Rs50 billion with a loss of Rs35 billion. It was rescued from privatisation but the institution's improvement will still take 10 to 12 years," he added.