HC notice to Rly Board chairman on PIL on 'substandard' brakes

The Madhya Pradesh High Court on Wednesday issued notices to the Railways on a PIL which claimed that it is using substandard brake blocks (shoes) which pose a threat to passengers's lives.

The petition filed by 'Nagrik Upbhokta Margdarshak Manch', an NGO, came up before a division bench of Chief Justice A K Mittal and Justice V K Shukla.

P G Najpandey, who has filed the PIL on behalf of the organisation, had written several letters to the Railway Board and other authorities in this regard but no action was taken, said his lawyer Dinesh Upadhyay.

There were instances in Jabalpur division of Western Central Railway of brake blocks of coaches catching fire, advocate Upadhyay said.

A brake block of the Mumbai-Darbhanga Pawan Express caught fire recently when the driver applied brakes, he said.

Even railway employee unions have demanded that use of substandard brake blocks be stopped, the lawyer said.

After hearing the petitioner, the high court issued notices to the chairman of the Railway Board, its secretary and the general manager of Jabalpur-headquartered WCR Zone, seeking replies in four weeks, the lawyer said.