KARACHI: The Sindh High Court on Thursday directed a lawyer to come prepared to advance arguments on a petition seeking independent judicial inquiry into the tragic death of a three-year-old child in an open manhole.

After a preliminary hearing, a two-judge constitutional bench of SHC headed by Justice Adnan Iqbal Chaudhry adjourned the hearing till Dec 11 as the counsel for petitioners sought time for arguments.

Citing secretary of home department, the Karachi mayor, managing director of Karachi Water & Sewerage Corporation, chairman Gulshan-i-Iqbal town and others as respondents, petitioner advocate Gulzar Nigar and former MNA Alamgir Khan petitioned the SHC and sought directives for the mayor and all 25 town chairmen to file detailed reports about uncovered manholes, trenches and pits in Karachi.

The petitioners further asked the SHC to direct the respondents to formulate and implement citywide municipal safety and hazard prevention framework, including mandatory inspection, emergency response protocols, rescue mechanisms, public hazard reporting system and strict disciplinary action against negligent officers.

At the outset of the hearing, the bench asked the lawyer for the petitioners to apprise it about the relevant rules & regulations to adopt protective measures during the uplift projects.

The counsel sought time to prepare arguments on the subject matter.

The bench in its order said: “Counsel for the petitioners seeks time to assistant the court with relevant regulations. To come up on 11-12-2025”.

The petitioners also sought departmental and disciplinary action against the delinquent officials of Karachi Metropolitan Corporation, district municipal corporation and other civil bodies for their failure to maintain public safety which caused tragic death of the child.

They submitted that three-year-old Ibrahim had drowned in an open manhole near Nipa in Gulshan-i-Iqbal on Nov 30 and his body was found after 15 hours which reflected blatant failure of the authorities concerned and emergency services.

Published in Dawn, December 5th, 2025