New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday appreciated the steps taken by the Indian Railways to prevent train accidents, after considering a status report filed by Attorney General R Venkataramani.
A bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and K V Viswanathan was hearing a plea filed by advocate Vishal Tiwari seeking directions to the Centre to set up an expert commission headed by a retired judge of the apex court and consisting of technical members to analyse and review the risk and safety parameters in the railway system. The plea also sought the commission to suggest systematic safety modifications for strengthening the safety mechanism.
During the hearing, the bench, while disposing of the petition, said the court appreciated the steps taken by the railways. The apex court made this observation after examining the status report filed by the Attorney General. On January 2, the apex court had asked the Attorney General to apprise it of measures undertaken including the implementation of the anti-collision system 'Kavach' to prevent train accidents.
The plea also sought a direction to set up an expert commission headed by a retired judge of the top court to conduct a time-bound probe into the Odisha train accident on June 2, last year, which claimed the lives of over 288 people and left several others injured.
On 23 March 2022, the Ministry of Railways announced a significant step towards enhancing the safety of train operations in India with the development of the Indigenous Automatic Train Protection (ATP) System called Kavach. The plea contended that it is absolutely necessary to implement the model of Kavach in every rail line and train carrier at the earliest without any technical fault.
