Railway ministry appeals against Bannerjee report

The Railway Ministry on Wednesday filed a petition before the Gujarat High Court challenging its order asking the Ministry not to act upon or further publicise the Banerjee report on Sabarmati train carnage in any manner.

The petition was filed before the division bench of Justice M S Shah and Justice S D Dave challenging Tuesday's interim order of single bench of Justice M R Shah on a plea filed by one Nilkanth Bhatia, a relative of the survivor of the fire on Sabarmati Express at Godhra on February 27, 2002 that killed 59 Kar Sevaks, returning from Ayodhya.

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Justice M R Shah's order asking all the concerned parties, including the railway ministry, not to further act upon the report till a final judgement on Bhatia's petition is reached, has been challenged stating that the "scope of inquiry" of Justice U C Banerjee Committee and the Nanavati-Shah Comission are "different".

The petition mentions that the scope of inquiry of the Banerjee Committee "extends to more than two states."

It also states that the petitioner Bhatia has no locus standi in the case as he is not one of the aggrieved parties who will be affected by the constitution of the Banerjee committee. The petition will come up for hearing on Thursday.