RailEnquiry

The Odisha High Court on Tuesday issued notices to the State government and the Indian Railways to file their respective counters within two weeks in response to a PIL filed seeking at least Rs. 10-lakh compensation to the families of all 14 persons who died in a the train accident near Sambalpur last month. The High Court also directed the Odisha government to provide proper treatment free of cost to the persons who sustained injuries in the accident that occurred when an express train hit the vehicle in which the victims were crossing the railway track at an unmanned level crossing. Four injured persons are now undergoing treatment at the VSS Medical College and Hospital in Burla.Advocate and social activist Prabir Das filed the PIL last month stating that 13 of the 14 deceased were women and they all belonged to Scheduled Caste community. Since the victims were agricultural workers and their families were covered under the BPL category, the petitioner had justified filing the PIL for the railways had refused to compensate the families of the victims. Taking up the PIL on the day and after preliminary hearing, a Division Bench of Chief Justice V. Gopala Gowda and Justice S.K. Mishra issued notices to the respondents, which are returnable within 15 days.