LAHORE, Aug 10: The Lahore High Court on Friday set at liberty 27 persons, including nine children and four women, who were illegally detained by a brick kiln owner of Samundri, Toba Tek Singh district.

The court had deputed a bailiff on Thursday to recover the kiln workers on a petition filed by Shaukat Ali. The bailiff produced the workers, all dressed up in shabby clothes, before the court on Friday morning.

The counsel for the kiln owner said the workers were not confined at the factory but were provided with accommodation adjacent to it. He said they were not being paid because they had availed a loan of Rs900,000 from the kiln owner.

The court observed the Supreme Court had laid down the rule that kiln workers could not be confined for not being able to pay back loan. The court observed the kiln owner could avail remedy at an appropriate forum and disposed of the petition.

Denying availing loan, the kiln workers said they were kept in makeshift, small rooms and were not given their wages. “They told us that we owed them money when we sought our wages. They say our money was adjusted against the electricity bill,” the workers said. —Reporter