Himachal HC summons three senior railway officers

Irked by the Railways' failure in properly apprising it of illegalities in various structures along the Kalka-Shimla Heritage Track and other railway lines in the state, the Himachal Pradesh High Court today summoned three senior officers of the Indian Railways.
A division bench of Acting Chief Justice Sanjay Karol and Justice Ajay Mohan Goel sought the presence of the officers on the next date of hearing, while expressing dissatisfaction over the Railways' affidavit filed in the matter.
"The sensitivity required to be exhibited by the officers in dealing with such matters is absolutely non-existent," said the bench while issuing summons to one senior divisional engineer of Firozpur and two of Ambala.

The officer (filing the affidavit on the issue) has either not understood the court's directions or he is deliberately trying to conceal the relevant information, said the bench.
After personally inspecting the railway track, the officer, with the help of his subordinates, was to identify the manner in which the Railways rules, regulations and bye- laws were violated either by raising construction over the Railways land or the private land.
Picking holes in the affidavit, the court pointed out that in case of the 'Kalka-Shimla Heritage Track,' a UNESCO world heritage site, the officer had only indicated that 18 persons raised constructions by encroaching upon the railway land.

Significantly, all these were at a short distance from railway track from Shimla to Jutogh and it was not clear in the affidavit as to how all the construction raised by the private individuals along the 96-km track were legal.
Similar was the position with regard to other railway tracks, namely, 'Pathankot-Jogindernagar' and 'Nangal-Talwara' falling within the territorial limits of the state.