Food poisoning: SFA to begin inquiry after investigation report, SHC told

Restaurant owner accuses SFA director of irresponsible behaviour in a bid to get media’s attention

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) restrained on Tuesday the Sindh Food Authority (SFA) Director Abrar Sheikh from talking to the media before the investigation report is issued in the incident of food poisoning which claimed the lives of two minors.

A two-member bench headed by Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, while hearing a petition filed by the owner of the restaurant, also directed the SFA to provide a copy of the report to the petitioner.

Sheikh informed the court that the report would be submitted on November 25, after which an inquiry will be conducted as per the SFA Act. The court inquired from Sheikh as to why he gave statements to the media before the report was out. Sheikh replied that he had only told the media what had happened and when.

During the hearing, there was an exchange of hot words between the petitioner and the SFA director. The petitioner's lawyer said that Sheikh loved getting the media's attention and soon after the incident, he displayed irresponsible conduct and gave the media a statement against the restaurant.

Sheikh replied that he does not crave media attention and that the media had reached the site before he did. He added that expired meat dating back to 2015 was recovered from their storage and that after the incident the restaurant was sealed.

The petitioner's lawyer said that the SFA was running a media campaign against their establishment and was misleading the media about the sealing of the restaurant.  The lawyer added that they themselves had closed the restaurant voluntarily.

Encroachment drive

The SHC has asked for property documents from the shopkeepers who had filed pleas against the demolition of their shops at Empress Market. A two-member bench headed by Justice Muhammad Ali heard the case.

The plaintiffs' lawyers argued that the shops had been leased by the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) for the past many decades and that the illegal shops were constructed outside Empress Market, implying that their shops were not encroachments.

The court remarked that these shops were leased illegally which is why they have been demolished. The court asked for the actual map of Empress Market from shopkeepers along with the shop property documents.

Death sentenced annulled

Approving the appeal against the sentence awarded to the convict in a murder case, the SHC changed the sentence from death penalty to life imprisonment. A two-member bench announced the verdict.

An anti-terrorism court had awarded death penalty to Mairaj, accused of murdering Asif Khan in 2013. Case was filed at Sharafi Goth police station.

Universities Act

The SHC expressed its displeasure over the Sindh government's failure in submitting its response to a petition challenging the Sindh Universities Amendment Act 2018, and directed it to submit its reply urgently. The court also directed that draft of the proposed law should be submitted. A two-member bench comprising Justice Mazhar and Justice Agha Faisal heard the case.

Later, the government's attorney provided a copy of the Sindh Universities Amendment Act (SUAA) 2018 to President Pasban-e-Pakistan (PeP) Altaf Shakoor, who had challenged it.

Shakoor challenged the bill through a constitutional petition and has prayed to declare the Sindh Universities Amendment Act null and void.

Petitioner stated that in the past, the Sindh governor was chancellor of the government-run universities in Sindh but then through this Act, this power was transferred to Sindh Chief Minister (CM) on political grounds. He claimed that the law was illegal and it should be declared null and void.

The petitioner's advocate Irfan Aziz was of the opinion that after the passage of the Act, the government universities were no longer independent institutions as the government representatives would occupy eight to ten seats in their syndicates. He said that higher education in Sindh would gravely suffer if the law was not annulled.

He further said that they had challenged the proposed amendments in the Act. He said that a copy of the Act was not available at any place and it was not even available on the government's website, as the government wanted to keep it secret. He added that today, on the SHC's orders, the government lawyer had provided a copy to them.

SSGC corruption

The SHC confirmed the interim bail of five suspects, including Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) Chief Financial Officer Shahid Hussain in corruption reference of more than Rs1 billion in the company. A two-member bench heard the plea.

The suspects include Malik Usman, Muhammad Tanveer, Amir Hussain and Umer Saboor. The court asked the suspects to submit their passports to the SHC.

According to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), the suspects misused their powers and incurred losses of Rs1.17b to the national exchequer.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 21^st, 2018.