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KARACHI, Nov 7: The Sindh High Court on Friday allowed the removal and disposal of the grounded oil tanker Tasman Spirit’s wreckage outside its jurisdiction under the supervision of its assignee, who would deposit the sale proceeds with the court pending final adjudication of the claims of various litigants.
The order was passed on an application moved by the Karachi Port Trust in an admiralty suit. The KPT said the wreckage posed a threat to smooth functioning of the port and might have to be removed to Gadani, the hub of the country’s shipbreaking industry, for its sale. The trust claimed that it was entitled to recover the cost of removal of the wreckage along with 20 per cent premium out of the sale proceeds.
The counsel for the plaintiff insurance companies and the defendant owners of the ship, Qazi Faez Isa and Mohammad Naeem of the Surridge and Beecheno law firm, had no objection to the KPT plea provided the removal and disposal operation was supervised by the SHC official assignee and the sale proceeds were deposited in the court after defraying the cost to the KPT pending litigation.
Tasman Spirit and the lighterage vessel commissioned to relieve it of its oil consignment, Endeavour-II, were ordered to be arrested in the first week of September at the behest of seven insurance companies, who claimed over Rs 883 million from the owners as damages for the loss suffered by them on account of their alleged negligence that caused the July 27 mishap. Justice Rahman reserved his judgment in the admiralty suit after hearing the parties.
Meanwhile, notices were ordered to be reissued in the multi- billion-rupee civil suits moved by the KPT and the Defence Housing Authority for the losses suffered by them due to the mishap.
ORDER RESERVED: Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany reserved order on a quashment petition moved by Nicholas Pappas, an employee of the company that owns Tasman Spirit. He submitted through Advocate Ashraf Kazi that he arrived in Karachi on Aug 18 for assisting in the salvage and lighterage operations of the grounded ship. The mishap occurred on July 27 and he was not personally liable for it. Yet the police had registered a case against him and put him under restraint.
He said his grandfather had, in the meantime, died in Greece and his body was being kept in a mortuary for burial on his return to Greece. He should be allowed to go back home if the quashment of the case was not immediately possible.
Contesting the petition on behalf of the state, federal government counsel Mahmood Alam Rizvi submitted that the petitioner represented a company sued by a number of organizations and individuals. The company was being held liable for massive damage resulting from the Tasman Spirit mishap. It had no office or representative in Pakistan. If at all release of his passport was necessary, the petitioner could be extended the concession on deposit of security amounting to 5 million dollars by his employers. The court reserved its orders for announcement on Monday.
PLEA AGAINST CONVICTION: A division bench of Sindh High Court, comprising Justice Wahid Bux Brohi and Justice Rehmat Hussain Jaffery, on Friday reserved judgement on appeal filed by four men against their conviction in murder cum dacoity case, adds PPI.
Appellants Muzaffar, Muhammad Ali, Manzoor Ahmed and Arshad were convicted by an anti-terrorism court in Karachi on Sept 18, 2001.
