March 28, 2008	Friday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 19, 1429

KARACHI, March 27: A counsel for the victims of March 2006 dumping of highly toxic industrial waste said on Thursday that he would challenge the acquittal of a factory owner and others by a district court “as it was a pre-mature decision”.

Advocate Faisal Siddiqui, who represented the victims in the case, told Dawn, “We had informed the trial court through an application that we were dissatisfied with court proceedings and wanted the case to be transferred to another court, but despite this all the accused were acquitted. We will challenge the acquittal order in the high court,” he added.

The court had acquitted the factory owner, two employees and the owner of the plot due to a lack of evidence against them.

The incident had claimed the lives of two children and caused injuries to 15 others by the toxic chemical dumped on a plot in Site in March 2006.

Mr Siddiqui said it was a “pre-mature” decision as it was a high-profile case and only four witnesses were examined by the court while there were 38 witnesses on the prosecutions list, adding that key witnesses, including investigation officer Sanaullah Abbasi, the victims and their families, were also not examined.

“We are considering the option of initiating proceedings against the deciding officer concerned in accordance with the law,” he added.

He said it was a second time that the accused were acquitted. Earlier the police had cleared them but the high court had directed police high-ups to reinvestigate the case.

The parents of the affected children were contacted, but they refused to talk to the media on the case saying that they had been advised against it by their counsel. They, however, added that they were planning to hold a press conference in a couple of days.