The chief justice of the Lahore High Court on Tuesday sought details of all special trains run by Pakistan Railways in the last six months.
He was hearing a petition filed by the Jhoolay Lal Council challenging the closure of special trains ahead of Hazrat Lal Shahbaz Qalandar’s urs. A deputy attorney general, appearing on behalf of the federal government, said Railways was not in a position to run the trains this year because of financial constraints. The chief justice asked him to provide details of all special trains run in the last six months and adjourned the hearing till July 9. Council president Sheikh Tariq Abbas submitted that every year PR ran 14 special trains so devotees of Shahbaz Qalandar from across the country could get to Sehwan Sharif for the urs. The council buys train tickets worth Rs3.6 million for these pilgrims from the PR each year. He said the urs starts on July 31 and many devotees stood to miss out because of the lack of trains. He asked the court to direct Railways authorities to restart the special service.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 6th, 2011.
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