The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed all the provinces to cancel the route permits of the old passenger vehicles, which were not fit for travel and submit a report in this regard within one month. The court, expressing sorrow over the incident in which 37 schoolchildren were killed in September, earlier this year, when an over-loaded bus overturned on the Lahore-Islamabad Motorway, observed that the incident resulted from the negligence of the Motorway Police.
A two-member bench, comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and Justice Khilji Arif Hussain, questioned why the Motorway Police had allowed the bus to enter the motorway without a route permit.
Attorney General for Pakistan Maulvi Anwarul Haq and the Punjab prosecutor general were also directed to cooperate in giving more compensation to the heirs of the 37 deceased persons. During the hearing, the court was informed that Rs 3.3 million was paid to the family of each child in compensation. Earlier, the court had ordered the registration of criminal cases against all those responsible for the bus accident, including the Faisalabad Tehsil Municipal Administration (TMA), the school administration and the owner of the bus and sought a compliance report. The court was informed that a case against the officers, who cleared the bus by giving it a fitness certificate, was sent to the Anti-corruption Department.
Motorway Police Senior Superintendent Police (SSP) Abbas told the court that three officers, who had committed the negligence, were dismissed, whereas a deputy superintendent police (DSP) was given a show cause notice.
