IHC summons railways secretary

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday summoned the Secretary Railways in a personal capacity for the failure to implement court orders pertaining to the grant of benefits to the employees of the Pakistan Railways (PR) and the delegation of powers regarding employees' upgradation to the Establishment Division (ED).

The court issued notices on the contempt petition for non-compliance with the court orders. In its orders, the court declared that the delegation of authority of employees' upgradation to the ED was illegal.

The court summoned the Secretary Railways in a personal capacity on November 20, asking him to explain why contempt of court proceedings should not be initiated against him. The court warned that in case of the secretary's non-appearance, his arrest warrants would be issued.

During the hearing, Justice Mian Gul Hasan Aurangzeb maintained in the order that the Supreme Court (SC) had rejected the PR's petition in 2015, but the department had been refusing to give the employees their due rights despite the court's order for the last seven years. The judge made it clear that obstructing the execution of court orders was a violation of law.