The Hindu: Chennai: Monday, 27 March 2023.
The Central Information Commission (CIC) has directed Southern Railway to provide a copy of the report on the investigation into the 1995 train accident that left 52 passengers dead and scores of others injured between the Lokur and Danishpet stations near Salem.
The CIC passed the order on a petition filed by Sachin P. Kesavan for a copy of the report filed by the Commissioner of Railway Safety. The Chief Public Information Officer (CPIO), Southern Railway, had sought to invoke provisions under Sections 8(1)(d), 8(1)(e) and 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act, 2005, to deny the information. The railways also said the information was too old to be found on records.
Overruling the stand of the railways, Information Commissioner Uday Mahurkar directed the CPIO to provide the information to the appellant after redacting information of which disclosure might harm national security, personal information about officers and witnesses and information of which disclosure that might harm the competitive position of a third party, in accordance with the spirit of transparency and accountability as enshrined in the RTI Act.
On the night of May 14, 1995, the Madras-Kanyakumari Express (no. 6019) collided with an empty goods train. Trains were operated on a twin single line system when the goods train entered the track on which the Kanyakumari Express was running. Eight coaches of the express train, six wagons of the goods train and the locomotives of both derailed, and 52 persons, including five crew members, died.
Different theories
Different theories were floated then on the circumstances that could have led to the fatal accident. The then Railway Minister, C.K. Jaffer Sharief, told Parliament a couple of days after the accident that “the signal man, perhaps, had not changed that line alignment and as such, he went on the other side and he went to the same line where the passenger train was coming and collided... Perhaps, more weightage can come only when the Safety Commissioner conducts the inquiry because these are all technical matters on which they may be able to throw more light.”
The petitioner in the RTI Act case sought a copy of the report of the Commissioner of Railway Safety, which was not made public. He submitted that he would not share the information as evidence in any case and it was only for gaining knowledge. The Commissioner of Railway Safety works under the Ministry of Civil Aviation and investigates matters of safety of rail travel and train operations. The Commissioner is entrusted with certain statutory functions as prescribed in the Railways Act, 1989.
The Central Information Commission (CIC) has directed Southern Railway to provide a copy of the report on the investigation into the 1995 train accident that left 52 passengers dead and scores of others injured between the Lokur and Danishpet stations near Salem.
The CIC passed the order on a petition filed by Sachin P. Kesavan for a copy of the report filed by the Commissioner of Railway Safety. The Chief Public Information Officer (CPIO), Southern Railway, had sought to invoke provisions under Sections 8(1)(d), 8(1)(e) and 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act, 2005, to deny the information. The railways also said the information was too old to be found on records.
Overruling the stand of the railways, Information Commissioner Uday Mahurkar directed the CPIO to provide the information to the appellant after redacting information of which disclosure might harm national security, personal information about officers and witnesses and information of which disclosure that might harm the competitive position of a third party, in accordance with the spirit of transparency and accountability as enshrined in the RTI Act.
On the night of May 14, 1995, the Madras-Kanyakumari Express (no. 6019) collided with an empty goods train. Trains were operated on a twin single line system when the goods train entered the track on which the Kanyakumari Express was running. Eight coaches of the express train, six wagons of the goods train and the locomotives of both derailed, and 52 persons, including five crew members, died.
Different theories
Different theories were floated then on the circumstances that could have led to the fatal accident. The then Railway Minister, C.K. Jaffer Sharief, told Parliament a couple of days after the accident that “the signal man, perhaps, had not changed that line alignment and as such, he went on the other side and he went to the same line where the passenger train was coming and collided... Perhaps, more weightage can come only when the Safety Commissioner conducts the inquiry because these are all technical matters on which they may be able to throw more light.”
The petitioner in the RTI Act case sought a copy of the report of the Commissioner of Railway Safety, which was not made public. He submitted that he would not share the information as evidence in any case and it was only for gaining knowledge. The Commissioner of Railway Safety works under the Ministry of Civil Aviation and investigates matters of safety of rail travel and train operations. The Commissioner is entrusted with certain statutory functions as prescribed in the Railways Act, 1989.
.JPG)
.JPG)
