KARACHI: A sessions court has dismissed bail applications filed by nine detained officers and employees of the Pakistan public works department in a case pertaining to death of six family members allegedly after inhaling poisonous gas at a government guesthouse.

Six members of a family visiting from Quetta died during their stay at the Qasr-i-Naz guesthouse in Saddar on the night of Feb 21.

Police booked and detained the Pakistan public works department superintendent engineer Nadeem Akhtar Shaikh, executive engineer Hiranand, assistant executive engineer Syed Zakir Hussain, sub-engineer Muhram Ali, contractor Sanobar Ahmed Khan, guesthouse’s assistant controller Sikandar Hayat, receptionist Abdul Hameed, room bearer Nisar Awan, waiter Sajjad Hussain and sweeper Pervaiz Bhatti for allegedly committing manslaughter and destroying the evidence.

The additional district and sessions judge (South), Samina Ghouri, on Tuesday pronounced her order reserved on the bail applications filed by all suspects, except Hiranand, after examining the record and hearing arguments from both sides.

The judge wrote in the order that the case was registered for the death of five children and a lady and an FIR showed that the five children died due to fumigation, which was hazardous for human life. She mentioned that during investigation it came on record that applicants were jointly responsible and due to their act five innocent children and a lady had died.

The judge noted that no doubt the alleged offences do not fall within the prohibitory clause of Section 497 of the CrPC, but it was observed by the superior courts in several judgments/orders that the accused persons could not claim the concession of bail, as a matter of right, when the offence did not fell within the prohibitory clause.

It is pertinent to mention here that statements of witnesses under Section 164 of the CrPC are on record, who implicated all the suspects in their joint act and connected them with the commission of the offence, including other incriminating evidence available in police record and recovery of such poisonous fumigation has also been effected from the surrounding of the place of the incident, as per the police record, the judge added.

She further mentioned that the record showed that charge sheet had been submitted in the present case in which specific role had been assigned to the accused connecting them with the alleged offence, therefore, she noted that the case laws cited by the applicants’ counsel were distinguishable from the present case.

In view the circumstances of the case, the judge found the bail applications had no merit and dismissed the same.

In the bail pleas, the applicants’ counsel argued that Section 322 (punishment for qatl bis sabab) of the Pakistan Penal Code was not applicable in the present case.

The counsel argued that no specific role of the applicants had been mentioned in the FIR of the incident. Therefore, they pleaded to the court to grant post-arrest bail to applicants since they had been remanded in judicial custody since March 14.

On the other hand, the complainant’s counsel strongly opposed the bail pleas contending that the applicants were involved in the present case, adding that the charge sheet had also been submitted in the present case and specific role of the applicants had been assigned.

Lastly, the counsel contended that the evidence was available on record to connect the applicants with the alleged offence and pleaded to dismiss their bail pleas.

The state prosecutor also supported the arguments advanced by the complainant’s counsel and contended that bail applications were liable to be dismissed.

Published in Dawn, May 15th, 2019