Staff Reporter
Islamabad
The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered Federal Minister for Railways Sheikh Rashid to submit in court a business plan to uplift Pakistan Railways from its current condition, giving the minister two weeks time to do so.
While hearing a case pertaining to losses incurred by the national organisation, a three-member bench comprising Chief Justice of Pakistan Gulzar Ahmed, Justice Ijaz-ul-Ahsan and Justice Sajjad Ali Shah expressed displeasure with the railways minister over his running of the organisation.
The chief justice asked the railways minister to inform the court about an October 2019 fire that had engulfed a train, killing 73 passengers when apparently a gas cylinder brought by one of the travellers had exploded.
“You should have submitted your resignation,” said the top judge, in response to which Rashid said that 75 people had been dismissed after the tragic incident.
“Yesterday we were told that two people were fired. You fired lower-level employees, when will the higher-ranking ones be [dismissed]?” asked Justice Ahmed.
“We will also remove higher-level employees,” said Rashid in response.
the Federal Cabinet decided to recover billions of rupees illegally spent by a former president, prime ministers and chief ministers from the national exchequer. If the misused public money was not surrendered by the accused then the law would take its course of action against them, he said while addressing a press briefing on the cabinet meeting flanked by Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan.
The minister said former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gillani had set up five camp houses in Multan and Lahore despite having his own residences in the cities and all the expenses incurred there were footed from the national exchequer. Similarly, former president Asif Ali Zardari had three camp offices whereas the Sharif brothers (former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and ex-Punjab chief minister Shehbaz Sharif) maintained five camp offices excluding the prime minister and chief minister houses, the minister said. Murad mentioned that Shehbaz Sharif even declared Nawaz’s Jati Umra residence in Raiwind as his camp office after the latter’s disqualification by the Supreme Court in the Panama Papers case.
Earlier in the day, Sindh Information Minister Saeed Ghani had, with much surety, said that Sindh IGP Kaleem Imam would be replaced today. The comment had come after Sindh IGP Imam, while addressing the inauguration ceremony of the Sindh Police Martyrs Memorial at Central Police Office (CPO) in Karachi, had said that he would not be transferred from his position so easily, adding that a “big conspiracy” was being staged against him.
