New Delhi, Aug 10 (PTI) The Chief Commissioner of Railway Safety (CCRS) should withdraw its decade-old circular asking commissioners to share with him a draft of the inquiry into train accidents before
issuing a preliminary investigation report, a section of legal and railway experts said.
The Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) is a statutory body under the Ministry of Civil Aviation that independently investigates train accidents. The rail operations across the country have been divided into nine circles to define the jurisdiction of each CRS, headed by a CCRS.
Recently, Dinesh Chand Deshwal, Commissioner of Railway Safety, Northern Circle, refused to comply with the order of submitting a prior draft to the CCRS, terming it "contrary to the law."
When contacted and asked about the sections of the Railway Act, 1989, under which the circular was issued, CCRS Janak Kumar Garg's office in New Delhi didn't respond.
On June 22, 2025, PTI reported for the first time about Deshwal's communication to Garg refusing to comply with the circular.
Garg's office had then said the direction was first issued in 2012 to all CRS, asking them to share the draft inquiry report of the first three accidents to help them understand the format of compiling investigation reports. His office also said the order was in accordance with the Railway Act, 1989.
Legal experts, however, said the CRS had the authority to independently submit probe reports on train accidents.
They said such circulars should only be advisory in nature if it is meant to assist the CRS to understand the format of preparing investigation reports.
Neither the Railways Act nor the statutory investigation into railway accident rules authorise the CCRS to issue such a circular, they said, adding that they believe that it was in contravention of the Railway Act.
"The requirement of sending a draft report to the CCRS seems unwarranted. The CRS is the primary investigating officer for certain types of accidents and their reports shouldn't need any prior vetting by the CCRS," Akshat Bajpai, Advocate-on-Record, Supreme Court, told PTI.
He added, "This report is also a narrative fact-finding report, which shouldn't require such additional vetting as the officer authorised to do the investigation should be given the freedom to independently and objectively assess the facts."
Another senior government lawyer, who did not want to be named, said if the CCRS wanted a newly appointed CRS to issue their reports in the correct format, he could have a short training module built into the appointment process.
"The circular violates autonomous and independent working of a CRS in the matter of railway accident investigation," he said, adding that such communication should be advisory in nature rather than a mandatory direction.
Sudhanshu Mani, veteran railway professional and creator of Train 18 and Vande Bharat Express, also agreed that the CCRS' circular was intended to be solely a guiding mechanism as CRS was a statutory body, clearly defined under the Railway Act.
"Its objective is to familiarise new incumbents with the report format and to help avoid inadvertent lapses. This precaution arises from past instances where some officers, either due to overenthusiasm or limited investigative experience, exceeded their brief," Mani said.
"Beyond this initial guidance, however, nothing should compromise the independence of the CRS. Once a CRS understands the statutory framework -- and let's not forget that a CRS is on probation for a year and can be reverted to Indian Railways if found lacking -- there should be no interference with their autonomy," he added.
According to Mani, CCRS was in many ways like a "minister without a portfolio" or a "chief justice who cannot dictate" how other judges write their judgments.
A senior ex-railway official, who retired as CRS, urged authorities to look at the legal sanctity of railway probes rather than see it as a tussle between CCRS and CRS.
"The issue is not CCRS vs CRS. A provision was made 12 years ago, which might have had some good intent then. But today, if it is being pointed out as contrary to the law, the suggestion should be taken in the right spirit," he said. PTI JP SKY
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