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KARACHI, Sept 6: A division bench of the Sindh High Court upheld on Saturday compensation decreed by a single judge for dependents of a Karachi Water and Sewerage Board employee, who died while trying to ascertain the fate of two co-workers in a choked manhole.
Two KWSB ‘kundimen’ succumbed to poisonous fumes in the manhole of the Lyari pumping station on May 25, 1989. Rustam Baloch, who was on duty as pump operator, followed them when they did not respond to calls made from outside and died on the spot.
A plaint was filed by his widow and three daughters for damages amounting to Rs2 million under the Fatal Accidents Act. The case set up by their counsel, Nasir Maqsood, was that Rustam was asked by his superiors to ascertain the fate of the two ‘kudimen’. He was also bound by the doctrine of rescue to help the two workers.
Justice Ataur Rahman held that Rustam could not be said to have died while performing his duties. Yet neither the KWSB officials present at the scene stopped him from going into the manhole nor did they equip him for the task. He awarded Rs588,000 as compensation to the plaintiffs.
A division bench comprising Justices Mohammad Roshan Essani and Khilji Arif Hussain heard the KWSB appeal against the single judge’s decree and judgment. Upholding the judgment and decree, it observed that the incident occurred in 1989 but the legal heirs were still awaiting compensation. Instead of paying compensation, the board preferred an appeal, it noted.
RELEASE SOUGHT: Human rights activist Krishan Sharma’s mother moved a writ petition on Saturday for his release from military custody in pursuance of a Sindh High Court division bench judgment.
A division bench comprising Justices Zahid Kurban Alavi and Zia Perwez had held that Mr Sharma, who is accused of espionage under the Official Secrets Act, could only be tried by a special magistrate under the provisions of the Act. Being a civilian, he could not be court-martialled under the Army Act.
Filed through advocates Syed Ghulam Shah and Noor Naz Agha, the petition says that Mr Sharma’s detention had become entirely illegal after the high court judgment. The lawyers wrote to the military authorities for his release but received no response, according to the petition.
MORTGAGE VALIDITY: An equitable mortgage remains valid even if no entry in respect of it is made in the official record of rights, a division bench of the Sindh High Court held on Saturday.
A provision (Section 58-f) incorporated in the Transfer of Property Act in 1986 required that entries in respect of equitable mortgage created by deposit of property documents should also be made in the record of rights.
The issue of legal consequence of absence of such entries came up before a division bench comprising Justices Sabihuddin Ahmed and S. Ali Aslam Jafri in an appeal.
After hearing Advocates Kamal Azfar, Saalim Salam Ansari, Shabbir Ahmed Shaikh and other lawyers for the various parties involved, the bench declared that the absence of an entry in the official record was not fatal to a mortgage. The new provision was directory and not mandatory.
