Railway services to be restored?
THE DEVELOPMENT ASSUMES SIGNIFICANCE AS IT COMES DAYS
AFTER POSTPAID MOBILE PHONE SERVICES WERE RESTORED ACROSS
ALL NETWORKS
IN THE VALLEY
NEW DELHI: Train services are likely to be restored soon in the Kashmir Valley, more than two months after they were suspended following the Centre’s August 5 move to revoke Article 370 that accorded special status to J&K, a senior official said.
“All services had been suspended since August and no trains were running. Train services between Baramulla [Kashmir] and Banihal [Jammu] will be restored very soon, hopefully within a week or so. Railway line from Banihal to Katra will also be ready once the construction of the Chenab bridge is finished,” Railway Protection Force (RPF) chief Arun Kumar told HT.
RPF is tasked with safeguarding railway property and providing security to passengers.
The development assumes significance as it comes days after postpaid mobile phone services were restored across all networks in the Valley.
According to senior railway ministry officials, the Indian Railways has lost “substantial” revenue since the suspension of services in August.
“We have evacuated nearly 60,000 people, mostly students from National Institute of Technology, Srinagar, Jammu and Udhampur in the initial days. People have to come to Katra by state transport buses and then move to other parts of the country. We are ready to resume services anytime but it is subject to clearances,” Rajeev Aggarwal, divisional railway manager, Ferozepur, had said on October 3.
The railway has already announced that special unit — Commando for Railway Security (CORAS) — will be deployed at sensitive stations, like Jammu and Pathankot, on the 654-km route of the Delhi-katra Vande Bharat Express to respond to any security situation.
Union home minister Amit Shah had on October 3 had flagged off the inaugural Vande Bharat Express, the state-run transporter’s first semi-high speed train, at New Delhi station. The train brings down the travel time between Delhi and Katra, the last station on the way to Vaishno Devi temple, to eight hours from the earlier 12 hours.
Shah called it Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s big gift for J&K, which would bring development to the region and boost religious tourism.
Railways minister Piyush Goyal had also said the Centre plans to have railway connectivity between Kashmir and Kanyakumari, the country’s southernmost point, before August 2022.
The government plan involves a 272-km long rail line from Udhampur to Baramulla joining the Kashmir valley with the railways network under Udhampur-srinagar-baramulla Rail Link project (USBRL). The 111-km-long railway stretch between Katra and Banihal, currently under construction, will connect the Kashmir Valley with the rest of the country. NEWDELHI: Justice Arun Mishra, a senior judge of the Supreme Court, deprecated the “emerging trend” on social media of pressurising the judiciary and judges to give up cases and said such a practice amounted to deliberate interference with the judicial system.
Justice Mishra is heading a five-judge bench formed to end the stalemate over interpretation of section 24 of the Land Acquisition Act that involves fair compensation to landowners whose property is acquired by the state for public purposes and return of the land in case it is not utilized for the acquired purpose.
The larger bench has been set up in the wake of contradictory judgements on the law point.
Farmland owners have opposed justice Mishra heading the bench because he had authored one of the two judgements that has been referred to the constitution bench to determine its correctness. Arguments on justice Mishra’s presence on the bench commenced on Tuesday and continued all of Wednesday. The bench is expected to deliver its verdict in the matter of recusal on October 23.
During the hearing, justice Mishra almost choked and said he was pained to hear such arguments and the systematic pattern adopted to embarrass the judiciary and judges. He said that left to him he would have recused himself from the matter.
“My determination has been strengthened by these circumstances. It would be embarrassing for me to hear comments on my own argument.but I would not succumb to a lobby which under a certain guise is pressurizing the Chief Justice,” the judge said.solicitor general Tushar Mehta, appearing for Haryana, opposed the recusal plea. He said the trend of hearing-eve articles will jeopardise the functioning of judiciary. He asked the judge not to recuse himself under any circumstances. The reference is to articles in social media on farmer groups opposing the presence of justice Mishra on the bench dealing with the land acquisition matter. “If a judge recuses under pressure then he defies the oath taken during his appointment,” Mehta told the bench.
Justice Mishra said such articles “were sponsored.”
“I say it loud and open. They are sponsored articles,” he told the solicitor general and other advocates present in the court.
The judge told Mehta that he should have pity on him. “Circumstances and the background created has forced me to hear the case,” he said.
“To succumb to (the plea for recusal) would be nothing short of bench-shopping! It will destroy the independence of the judiciary. You are asking for a bench of your preference, your liking? One that is of your formulation? That you think would favour you? You want to tame the judiciary? This is a grave issue!”, the judge told senior advocate Shyam Divan, who on behalf of the landowners said there was no intent of bench-hunting.
“We are worried about an apprehension of bias,” he clarified, explaining “Your presence is likely to restrain the advocates and the litigants alike in presenting our case. This would be like crossing the rubicon.”