KARACHI: Police on Tuesday arrested the owners of a Korangi factory and its building and a supervisor after a district and sessions court revoked their interim pre-arrest bail in a case pertaining to the death of 16 workers in a fire in the industrial unit last month.

The fire allegedly caused by an electric short-circuit engulfed the industrial unit, BM Luggage, in Mehran Town on Aug 27 killing the 16 workers.

Police had booked factory owner Hassan Meetha alias Ali Meetha, building owner Faisal Tariq, its three supervisors — Syed Imran Ali Zaidi, Zafar and Rehan — and watchman Syed Zarin over their alleged involvement in the manslaughter case.

Three of them — Meetha, Tariq and Zaidi — had obtained interim pre-arrest bail on Aug 30 and later District and Sessions Judge (East) Khalid Hussain Shahani extended the bail till today.

The judge holds SBCA, labour dept, KDA, Civil Defence responsible for the blaze that killed 16 workers

On Tuesday, the court pronounced its verdict on the interim bail applications of the suspects after hearing arguments from the deputy district public prosecutor and defence counsel.

The judge noted that in view of the facts and circumstances of the case and dictum laid down in the cited case law, prima facie applicants had failed to make out the case for bail. “Accordingly, all three above bail applications being devoid of merits stand dismissed and interim orders recalled,” the judge ruled.

Witnesses and judicial staff said that the investigating officer arrested Mr Meetha and Mr Tariq from the courtroom. The third suspect Zaidi immediately left the courtroom and tried to escape, but police chased and arrested him, they added.

Earlier, Advocate Hassan Sabir, the lawyer for the factory owner, had submitted to the court copies of letters addressed to the director of Civil Defence Sindh, a report of the incident issued by the Additional Controller Civil Defence (East), Assistant Director (Mehran Town), Land Department of Karachi Development Authority (KDA), Deputy Director (Korangi) of the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA), Joint Registrar of Companies, Company Registration Officer, Joint Director Labour (East) Division.

The judge noted that all such correspondence was made after the unfortunate incident and had less significance with the merits of the case.

The court added that perusal of the record suggested that sufficient material was available with the prosecution to link the applicants with the commissioning of the alleged offence.

Defence lawyer Sabir also argued that the offence under Section 322 (manslaughter) of the Pakistan Penal Code only provide for diyat amount as punishment, and there was no imprisonment for such an offence even if proved.

The judge observed that it was an admitted position that the offence under Section 322 of the PPC had been made non-bailable in schedule-II of the criminal procedure code.

Another defence counsel, Mohammad Haseeb Jamali, submitted that his client Faisal Tariq had neither direct nor indirect connection with the crime, the factory and workers, as he was only the owner of the subject property where the factory was running as he had rented out the place to Mr Meetha in 2019.

The judge observed: “The perusal of building code shows that it is the owner who has to obtain permission for establishment of factory, constructed building accordingly with structural requirement and fire resistive system. All these statutory requirements should have been complied with by the owner before renting the building out for running the factory.

“The arguments have no merit in the absence of compliance of statutory requirements and owner would be equally responsible for the causes on his part that added to the incident,” the court ruled.

The judge ruled: “From the examination of building code and relevant laws hereinabove, the authorities who failed to discharge their functions, the Sindh Building Control Authority, Labour department and inspectors, concerned Deputy Commissioner, Karachi Development Authority and Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (Civil Defence Department). These all are responsible for the offence and ought to be implicated, investigated and taken to the task for the alleged crime.”

Published in Dawn, September 8th, 2021