Gujrat incident: SC reserves judgment in school van tragedy case
Federal, Punjab institutions blame each other for negligence.
The OGRA Advocate Afnan Karim Kundi admitted it was the regulator’s duty to examine the CNG kits and cylinders for safety. PHOTO: REUTERS/FILE
ISLAMABAD:
A Supreme Court of Pakistan three-member bench on Thursday reserved its judgment as the federal and Punjab provincial institutions put on each other the blame of negligence that resulted in the death of 18 children and a teacher in Gujrat in a school bus tragedy last month.
“We have heard all of you. The judgment is being reserved and it will be announced soon,” remarked Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, who was heading the bench hearing the May 25 tragic incident and its possible causes.
Earlier a lawyer representing Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) claimed that the blast did not occur due to any leakage of the CNG cylinder; but because of a petrol can that caught fire.
The OGRA Advocate Afnan Karim Kundi admitted it was the regulator’s duty to examine the CNG kits and cylinders for safety; however the vehicle carrying the schoolchildren met with the tragedy owing to leakage of petrol as the van did not have a fuel tank, he added.
“It is the duty of Punjab Transport Department motor vehicle examiner to issue fitness certificate to public transport vehicles before issuing the route permit. If fuel tank was absent in the vehicle, how the fitness certificate was issued?” questioned Advocate Kundi.
On the other hand, Punjab Additional Advocate General Jawad Hassan informed the court that a report by forensic laboratory of Punjab had revealed that the fuel tank of the van was intact.
Appearing on a court notice, Ministry of Industries Explosive Department Chief Inspector Muhammad Hussain Channa said it was not the duty of his office to examine the CNG cylinders; as claimed by the OGRA lawyer at the last hearing.
The chief inspector said his duty was to oversee trade of explosives in the country and to issue the NOCs for setting up petrol and CNG stations after checking the sites and approving their maps. It was the duty of the OGRA to regulate the trade of CNG kits and cylinders, Channa added.
The OGRA advocate, however, took exception to the arguments of the chief inspector and added that the regulatory authority in 2011 proposed to the federal government a ban on the use of CNG cylinders in the public transports but so far no decision had been taken.
Updating the bench, also comprising Justice Ijaz Ahmed Chaudhry and Justice Gulzar Ahmed, District Police Officer (DPO) Tahir Khan Khattak said the owner of the petrol station was interrogated for selling the commodity in open bottles and cans.
He said Gujrat’s Motor Vehicle Examiner (MVE) had not been proceeded against in the criminal case registered on the complaint of the police constable who lost his sister, the school teacher, and three children in the tragic incident.
The DPO said the police had already arrested the school owner and the vehicle driver who was reported to have been smoking cigarettes.
At the last hearing the bench had been informed that an inquiry conducted by the Commissioner Gujranwala division had held Gujrat Regional Transport Authority’s (RTA) secretary, Motor Vehicle Examiner (MVE), District Traffic Police, Excise and Taxation Department and education department responsible for the tragic incident.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 14th, 2013.
A Supreme Court of Pakistan three-member bench on Thursday reserved its judgment as the federal and Punjab provincial institutions put on each other the blame of negligence that resulted in the death of 18 children and a teacher in Gujrat in a school bus tragedy last month.
“We have heard all of you. The judgment is being reserved and it will be announced soon,” remarked Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, who was heading the bench hearing the May 25 tragic incident and its possible causes.
Earlier a lawyer representing Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) claimed that the blast did not occur due to any leakage of the CNG cylinder; but because of a petrol can that caught fire.
The OGRA Advocate Afnan Karim Kundi admitted it was the regulator’s duty to examine the CNG kits and cylinders for safety; however the vehicle carrying the schoolchildren met with the tragedy owing to leakage of petrol as the van did not have a fuel tank, he added.
“It is the duty of Punjab Transport Department motor vehicle examiner to issue fitness certificate to public transport vehicles before issuing the route permit. If fuel tank was absent in the vehicle, how the fitness certificate was issued?” questioned Advocate Kundi.
On the other hand, Punjab Additional Advocate General Jawad Hassan informed the court that a report by forensic laboratory of Punjab had revealed that the fuel tank of the van was intact.
Appearing on a court notice, Ministry of Industries Explosive Department Chief Inspector Muhammad Hussain Channa said it was not the duty of his office to examine the CNG cylinders; as claimed by the OGRA lawyer at the last hearing.
The chief inspector said his duty was to oversee trade of explosives in the country and to issue the NOCs for setting up petrol and CNG stations after checking the sites and approving their maps. It was the duty of the OGRA to regulate the trade of CNG kits and cylinders, Channa added.
The OGRA advocate, however, took exception to the arguments of the chief inspector and added that the regulatory authority in 2011 proposed to the federal government a ban on the use of CNG cylinders in the public transports but so far no decision had been taken.
Updating the bench, also comprising Justice Ijaz Ahmed Chaudhry and Justice Gulzar Ahmed, District Police Officer (DPO) Tahir Khan Khattak said the owner of the petrol station was interrogated for selling the commodity in open bottles and cans.
He said Gujrat’s Motor Vehicle Examiner (MVE) had not been proceeded against in the criminal case registered on the complaint of the police constable who lost his sister, the school teacher, and three children in the tragic incident.
The DPO said the police had already arrested the school owner and the vehicle driver who was reported to have been smoking cigarettes.
At the last hearing the bench had been informed that an inquiry conducted by the Commissioner Gujranwala division had held Gujrat Regional Transport Authority’s (RTA) secretary, Motor Vehicle Examiner (MVE), District Traffic Police, Excise and Taxation Department and education department responsible for the tragic incident.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 14th, 2013.