January 19, 2008	Saturday	Muharram 09, 1429

KARACHI, Jan 18: An additional district and sessions court on Friday issued bailable warrants for the arrest of the investigation officer in a boiler explosion case and adjourned the case’s hearing till January 25.

Nine people had died and 25 others injured when a boiler exploded in a towel-dyeing and bleaching factory in New Karachi on July 24, 2007. The factory owner, Akhtar Hussain Baloch, and other accused are facing a manslaughter charge in the case.

When the case came up for hearing on Friday, Additional District and Sessions Judge-II, Central, Nelofer Shahnawaz noticed that Investigation Officer Mohammad Ilyas and Assistant Sub-Inspector Mohammad Fayyaz had not appeared in court despite repeated reminders and reissued bailable warrants for their arrest. Notices were also issued to some prosecution witnesses to record their statements on the next hearing.

The public prosecutor, earlier, raised objections on a bail application filed by the factory owner. He submitted that the boiler operator, Mohammad Ahsanullah, did not have any licence. Besides, he said, safety devices were not in place and some tubes of the boiler were out of order. He stated that the boiler that exploded did not even have a heat intensity gauge meter. The factory owner was guilty of negligence as he failed to ensure maintenance of safety standards at his factory, the prosecutor said.

Around 10 prosecution witnesses have, so far, recorded their statements in the case.

The court put off the case to January 25 on the request of the defence counsel who would record his arguments on the bail application on the next hearing.

A case (FIR 359/2007) was registered against the factory owner and boiler operator after the explosion under Section 322 of the Pakistan Penal Code at Taimuria police station last year. Both the accused were arrested and later remanded in judicial custody.

However, Investigation Officer Mohammad Ilyas submitted the final charge-sheet to the court of the judicial magistrate-12, Central, Abdul Zahoor Chandio, on September 24, 2007. He attributed the long delay in the submission of the final charge-sheet to the non-availability of the inquiry report that was being prepared by the boiler inspection wing of the Sindh government’s directorate of industries.

Referring to a parallel inquiry conducted by officials of the directorate of industries, the investigation officer stated that a boiler operator must hold a licence to handle the job and should be well-versed with the operation of the machinery.

However, the IO’s report did not address the issue of the expired boiler clearance certificate produced by the factory owner within the next couple of days after the incident which could provide clues to the machine’s fitness level. It also lacked any mention of whether the essential inspection had been done by the authorities concerned.