Rashid summoned in HR case: Railways most corrupt department, observes SC

The Supreme Court has summoned Federal Minister for Railways Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, secretary and general manager/CEO of Railways today (Tuesday), observing that Pakistan Railways is the most corrupt department.

A three-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed, on Monday heard a human rights case regarding colossal loss incurred by Pakistan Railways. Former CJP Saqib Nisar had taken notice of corruption in Railways. The bench expressed annoyance over the audit report on Railways. The Chief Justice said the Railways' record is still manual. Justice Ijaz ul Ahsan said according to the audit report, Railways loss is in billion of rupees as it has faulty system.

The Chief Justice said that bullet trains are being run in the world and efforts are being made to further improve the railways system. Without taking name of Railways Minister, the Chief Justice remarked that person who takes the charge of this ministry should first travel on trains.

The CJP said he [minister] should do a better job of handling the ministry. "The whole institution is politicized," he added. "Every day he [Sheikh Rasheed] talks about regime change."

Neither the passengers train nor the goods trains are working. The passengers don't feel safe while traveling on train. Neither the tracks and stations nor signals are in good condition.

The Chief Justice observed that Pakistan Railways is the most corrupt department, as nothing in the Railways is functioning. "Still people in Pakistan are traveling in 18th Century trains. The situation of passengers' trains is the worst," he observed.

He inquired what happened about the train fire incident. The counsel representing the Ministry of Railways said that matter had been investigated and action has been taken against two officials.

Before the conclusion of the proceedings, the Chief Justice inquired where the general manger/CEO of Railways is. The counsel informed that the court had summoned the previous GM and not the incumbent. However, the told the lawyer to ask the GM to appear before the court on Tuesday and adjourned the case until today (Tuesday).

In April, 2018 the apex court had asked a chartered accountancy firm, AF Ferguson, to carry out a forensic audit of Pakistan Railways to find out reasons behind colossal losses the department has faced during the past five years.

Former Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafiq in its reply to the audit report had told the court that the forensic audit conducted on the orders of court did not find any corruption in the department during his tenure. He said neither corruption nor embezzlement of public money had been found in the audit report. He, however, said the losses mentioned in the report were not incurred by the Railways during the last five years alone but they were a backlog of over 60 years.