The National Human Rights Commission has summoned Punjab Chief Secretary K A P Sinha over alleged bus safety lapses after a collision between two buses operating under the Mukh Mantri Tirath Yatra Yojana killed four people in Tarn Taran. The commission has sought inspection records, compliance details and an accident report from the state government.
The NHRC said Sinha must appear in person or through a representative on December 7. The summons will be waived if Punjab submits the requested documents by November 30, according to the commission’s direction reported by The Times of India.
The action follows an alleged failure by the Punjab government to comply with a seven-day deadline issued on October 23. That directive required the state to inspect all buses being used under the pilgrimage scheme and remove unsafe vehicles from the road.
The commission’s concerns were based on a complaint filed by the Network for Access to Justice and Multidisciplinary Outreach Foundation. The complaint alleged that some buses had unauthorised structural modifications, partitions separating driver cabins, blocked emergency exits and inadequate fire-safety equipment.
The NHRC also referred to proceedings from October 2025 concerning recurring fatal bus crashes. Its latest intervention places the safety of buses used for publicly facilitated pilgrimages within a wider question of transport inspection, vehicle fitness and enforcement by state authorities.
The fatal Tarn Taran collision occurred a day before the commission issued its latest direction. The report did not provide details of the vehicles’ inspection history or establish whether the alleged safety violations were present in the buses involved in the crash. Those details are among the documents the NHRC has asked the state to submit.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann urged opposition leaders not to politicise the tragedy. Speaking in Amritsar, where he announced financial assistance of Rs 5 lakh each for the families of those killed and Rs 1 lakh each for the injured, Mann said the incident should not be attributed to any fault on the part of the government. He also said the state remained committed to the safety and well-being of citizens.
Mann said he had visited a hospital in Amritsar to enquire about the injured pilgrims. His remarks came as opposition parties accused the AAP government of negligence in the operation and oversight of the pilgrimage scheme.
Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal described the crash as a failure of the system and demanded a time-bound probe and a driver dope test. He also alleged that the buses lacked valid registration, fitness, pollution and insurance documents. These allegations were reported as statements by Badal and were not independently established in the supplied material.
Punjab BJP president Kewal Singh Dhillon claimed the state had admitted to the NHRC in January that none of the scheme’s buses was registered in Punjab. He also alleged that some buses had been fined in other states, while saying his party’s concern was the safety of elderly passengers rather than the pilgrimage scheme itself. The state government’s response to those specific claims was not included in the report.
The immediate next steps are tied to the NHRC’s deadline. Punjab must submit the requested inspection and accident-related records by November 30 to avoid the chief secretary’s appearance on December 7.
