0
KARACHI, Jan 16: The Sindh High Court asked the police to proceed against all those found responsible for dumping of toxic waste on an industrial plot in the Site Town, which resulted in the death of a boy and injuries to three others in May 2006.
In his detailed report, senior police superintendent Sanaullah Abbasi, who was deputed to conduct an investigation by the court, said that besides the owners of the plot and of the factory that used it as a dump, the Sindh Industrial and Trading Estate management was also criminally liable for its negligence in ensuring that the terms of the lease were observed.
About 200 plots were lying vacant and could be freely used for dumping of industrial waste by factories operating in the estate. The Site management is the beneficiary of the non-utilisation fees paid by the lessees.
The SSP said in the report that the secretary of the environmental protection agency (EPA), Muhammad Iqbal Diwan, has kept the file of the case dormant ‘maliciously’. Dr Iqbal Saeed, director, who lodged the FIR in respect of the May 2006 incident, was ‘kicked out from the department’, he noted. The EPA did not pursue the case. The officials concerned should also be tried for criminal negligence, he said.
Nine-year-old Iftikhar died and three of his playmates were injured when they fell in the chemicals dump on plots F-620 and F-621 in the Site Town. There was a boundary wall and no warning or indication that the industrial plots were being used for dumping industrial waste. The owners of the plot and of the factory which dumped its waste in the plots were equally liable, the report said.
Disposing of identical public interest petitions, a division bench comprising Justices Sarmad Jalal Osmany and Ali Sain Dino Metlo asked the SSP to submit a charge-sheet in the light of his findings and prosecute the alleged offenders before a competent court, which should evaluate the evidence impartially without being influenced by any observations made in the course of proceedings in the high court.
WARRANT ISSUED: Justice Gulzar Ahmed issued a bailable warrant of arrest to ensure the presence of the land utilization member of the provincial board of revenue, Mohammad Khalid Soomro.
Two auction purchasers of 234 acres at Deh Baberband, Jams-horo District, have sued the BoR member for contempt of court.
They submitted through Advocate Shaikh Shaukat Ali that they purchased the land in a public auction conducted by the SHC official assignee under court orders. The BoR member was out to undo the transaction as, according to him, the land belonged to the government and was not liable to be auctioned in proceedings between two private parties.
The lawyer said the cancellation notice had been issued under Section 164 of the Land Revenue Act, which was applicable to allotment by subordinate officials of the board. The provision, he argued, was not applicable to any sale transacted under an order of the high court.
The member was issued notices in the contempt plea but failed to respond. It issued a bailable warrant in the sum of Rs50,000 on Tuesday to ensure his presence on February 7.
NAB CASES: A division bench comprising Justices Rehmat Husain Jafri and Munib Ahmed Khan asked lawyers to address arguments on the question of production of an accused at the time of filing of filing of a reference against him by the chairman of the NAB.
Referring to applications for pre-arrest bail by the NAB accused, the bench asked the lawyers representing them and NAB counsel Shafaat Nabi Sherwani whether the bureau should be obliged to produce the accused before the trial accountability court or explain his or her absence under Section 173 of code of criminal procedure.
Advocates Iqtidar Ali Hashmi, Anwar Tariq and Minhaj Farooqui are among the lawyers who will make submissions on the issue.
