PILs highlighting road accidents on NH-44, Mughal Road
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Apr 24: A Division Bench of the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh comprising Chief Justice Arun Palli and Justice Rajnesh Oswal has allowed the Amicus Curiae-Advocate Sheikh Shakeel Ahmed to personally visit the relevant sites on the National Highway-44 and the Mughal Road along with the then President, District Bar Association, Doda Advocate Syed Asim Hashmi and social activist Asif Iqbal Butt and to submit a comprehensive status report indicating if any measures are still required to be taken on the recommendations submitted by 4-members Expert Committee constituted by the Division Bench on December 7, 2023.
The direction was passed in a batch of three Public Interest Litigations highlighting frequent and repeated road accidents occurring in Ramban, Batote, Doda, Kishtwar roads (National Highway-44) and also Mughal Road.
The Division Bench considering the sensitivity of the matter and issues requiring determination had constituted a Committee of Experts to inspect the National Highway-44 and Mughal Road to make suitable recommendations/suggestions and the committee submitted its report through Nodal Officer– Divisional Commissioner Jammu on March 14, 2024.
When these PILs came up for hearing, Amicus Curiae Advocate Sheikh Shakeel Ahmed with Advocates Rahul Raina, Supriya Chouhan, M Zulkarnain Chowdhary and Advocate Navneet Dubey appearing for the petitioners submitted that although the recommendations made by the expert body have substantially been implemented but in the given circumstances a site visit or spot inspection would be imperative to conclusively address the remaining issues, if any.
Advocate Sheikh Shakeel Ahmed submitted that he would personally visit the relevant sites and furnish a comprehensive status report indicating, if any, measures are still required to be taken. He further submitted that Advocate Syed Asim Hashmi, the then President, District Bar Association, Doda has rendered valuable assistance to the court and he be also associated with Amicus Curiae for spot inspections and the Division Bench conceded to the request made by the Amicus Curiae.
Amicus Curiae further apprised the Division Bench that a letter written by social activist Asif Iqbal Butt was converted as a PIL by the court by taking suo motto cognizance and he too be associated with Amicus Curiae to visit the subject sites/areas and the Division Bench agreed to this.
Senior AAG SS Nanda appeared for UT of J&K and DSGI Vishal Sharma for National Highways Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL).
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