The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Punjab government, insurance company concerned and the Motorway Police to compensate the heirs of 37 people, mostly schoolchildren, who died in September as an over-loaded bus overturned on the Lahore-Islamabad Motorway, approximately an hour’s drive from Islamabad. A two-member SC bench comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and Justice Khilji Arif Hussain also directed Attorney General Maulvi Anwarul Haq to take personal interest in the payment of compensation.
The court ordered registration of criminal cases against all responsible including Faisalabad Tehsil Municipal Administration (TMO), the school administration and owner of the bus and sought compliance report until Tuesday (today). The court noted that the negligence of the Motorway Police was also one of the causes of the accident, therefore it should pay double compensation.
