Thursday, June 22 2006 10:50 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Toronto: Affirming that a tragedy such as the Kanishka bombing that killed 324 must never be allowed to repeat, Justice John Major, former Canadian Supreme Court judge, has launched a judicial inquiry into the 1985 disaster in Ottawa.

The public inquiry was announced following demands for fresh probe by devasted relatives of the dead after a two-year trial resulted in the acquittal of two Sikh separatists.

Opening the probe, Major laid out the groundwork rules for how the inquiry would proceed and candidly pointed out certain 'weaknesses' in the Canadian criminal justice system.

"This was and is a Canadian tragedy. Recognition of that reality may be one factor in bringing the surviving families nearer to achieving peace of mind with knowing what happened and why it should not happen again," he said.

"Looking forward, this inquiry will hopefully contribute to building a system with sufficient safeguards to prevent such tragedies from occurring," he said.

His statement came after he met about 80 members of the families, most of them Indian-origin, who lost their loves ones. They are hoping the inquiry will finally bring a sense of closuse and help to ease their personal pain.

Justice Major opined that their pain, suffering and frustration remains palpable more than two decades later.

The probe does not have the ability to retry the matter or find fault, but he said the inquiry (which is expected to begin hearing its first witnesses in September) can call witnesses to establish facts and support conclusions and recommendations as to how the system should have or could have functioned.