KARACHI: The chief executive officer of the Karachi Electricity Supply Company was on Friday booked in a manslaughter case regarding the death of a young man who fell from the eighth floor of a multi-storey building to escape a fire.

Civil Lines DSP Zubair Tanoli said that a case (FIR 129/2012) was registered under Section 322 (punishment for qatl bis-sabab) of the Pakistan Penal Code against KESC chief Tabish Gohar and retired Col Shiraz, the chief security officer of the power utility, on a complaint of Abdul Rasheed Baig, the victim’s father, at the Artillery  Maidan police station.

Earlier, a division bench of the Sindh High Court headed by Justice Maqbool Baqar directed the additional SHO of the Artillery Maidan police station to register a case and proceed with the matter effectively under the supervision of DIG Sultan Khawaja.

Advocate Nadeem Shaikh had moved an application in the court which was later converted into a constitutional petition by the chief justice.

The petitioner submitted that the young man, Owais Baig, died after falling from the State Life Building near Zainab Market on Nov 28 in the presence of hundreds of spectators and rescue workers.

He stated that the officials of the fire brigade department and other civic agencies had already reached the spot before the luckless man fell off the windowsill.

The petitioner pointed out that no effort was made to save the young man’s life who happened to be in the building for an interview of a job with the KESC.

He stated that a jumping pad could have been placed where the victim landed, but no such gear was put into service.

The petitioner stated that the rescue officials of the fire brigade department failed to save the young man’s life as they responded to the situation in an inefficient and unprofessional manner.

He questioned as to why the fire brigade officials could not bring required equipment and gear to save the life of entrapped man despite the availability of ample funds at its disposal.

The bench issued a fresh notice to the KESC chief for his personal appearance.

The victim’s mother also appeared in court and submitted that even an FIR of the death of her son had not yet been registered.

The additional SHO undertook to register the case during the course of the day.

The bench put off the matter to Dec 20 and directed the police to submit a progress report of the proposed FIR in court.