Odisha train accident: PIL before Supreme Court seeks probe led by retired apex court judge

A public interest litigation (PIL) petition has been filed before the Supreme Court seeking the formation of a probe panel headed by a retired apex court judge to probe the recent train accident in Odisha's Balasore..The accident that occurred on June 2 had resulted in 288 deaths and injured over 1,000 people. It involved the Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express and the Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express trains.The PIL filed by advocate Vishal Tiwari has sought the following directions to be issued to the Central government and Indian Railways:- Set up an expert commission headed by a retired Supreme Court judge and consisting technical members to analyse and review the current risk and safety parameters in the railways, find the root cause of the incident, and suggest 'systematic safety modifications', within two months- Ensure implementation of Automatic Train Protection (ATP) system known as KAVACH with immediate effect to ensure public safety.Such accidents amount to the violation of life and liberty guaranteed by Article 21, the plea stated. Further, past inquiries carried out by the government itself into such derailments have failed to yield the necessary results, the petitioner contended."With unregulated and negligent actions, the Respondent Authorities have time by time shown the country that there needs to be a strict judicial intervention on this matter as this matters the concern of public safety and life which stands at the highest pedestal on the functioning of any state machinery ... This type of incidents holds multirole consequences in the form of other train cancellations and diversions of trains bringing in severe inconveniences. The damage of public properties are widespread which are ultimately the loss of taxpayer’s money of this country".The petitioner further submitted that a separate compensation mechanism is required for such tragedies.