Up in flames: Owner of Taj cinema seeks report over fire

Petitioner says he hasn’t been informed about root cause of fire

LAHORE: Owner of Taj Cinema has filed a petition with the Lahore High Court, seeking orders for the Punjab Forensic Science Agency (PFSA) director general to provide a report of a fire incident.

Two people suffered burns and valuables worth millions of rupees were destroyed when a fire broke out at the cinema on June 7, 2016.

The petitioner, Advocate Affan Asad Taj, said he owns Taj Cinema Lahore and rented it out to Cinestar (SMC) Pvt Ltd on September 13, 2013. The building caught fire under suspicion circumstances in 2016.



Cinestar (SMC) managed to get the cinema insured by withholding vital information from the insurer, he said. The petitioner added  Cinestar managed to get the copy of the complete forensic report from the PFSA and claimed insurance on the basis of it.

Taj said he approached the PFSA DG to get a forensic report, but was provided with an incomplete copy in April 2017. It only had the agency’s crime scene investigation by police and did not state the cause of the fire.



The petitioner added he submitted different applications to the deputy inspector general (operations) Lahore, SP Civil Lines and DG PFSA for the complete report, but received no response to this date.

Later, he filed an application, under the Transparency and Right to Information Act, to the public information officer of PFSA through courier. Even the latter official failed to respond.

He requested the court to direct the DG PFSA to provide the complete forensic record relating to Taj Cinema as per his RTI plea.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 4^th, 2017.