KE chief granted protective bail

The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Wednesday granted protective bail to K-Electric (KE) CEO Moonis Alvi in two cases related to electrocution deaths.

The court also granted protective bail to the power utility's chief distribution officer.

The bench approved the bails against surety bonds of Rs50,000 each, directing both the accused to cooperate with the relevant authorities in the investigations.

The police had registered cases against four KE officials, including Alvi, over the death of 19-year-old Faizan Ahmed near a KE substation due to electrocution on Tuesday.

Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Gulzar Ahmed had also expressed displeasure over prolonged power cuts and ordered officials to put Alvi's name on the Exit Control List on Tuesday, further ordering the registration of murder cases against KE officials for electrocution deaths in the city.

It is pertinent to mention here that over 30 people were electrocuted to death in the port city during the recent spells of monsoon rain.

While KE officials have also been booked in similar cases several times previously, no effective action has been taken against them.

At least 15 people were killed in separate incidents of electrocution during last year's monsoon season, with Alvi and others booked in 12 cases. However, none of the officials were arrested.

Alvi and other KE officials were also booked for the deaths of at least five children in July, 2019.

New constituencies

Meanwhile, the SHC issued notices to the Sindh chief secretary, provincial election commission, local government secretary and others over a plea challenging the election commission's notification about forming a committee to define the constituencies.

A two-member bench, comprising Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Yousuf Ali Sayeed, was hearing the plea filed by Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P) leaders.

The petitioners maintained in the plea that MQM-P would suffer due to the demarcation of new constituencies.

They claimed that the election commission had included deputy commissioners and assistant commissioners in the committee, but forming a committee for the purpose was illegal because the method for it had been devised in 2013. They added that the report regarding constituencies defined earlier had also not been made public.

The plea moved the court to nullify the notification issued by the election commission.

The court issued notices to the parties and sought replies by August 26.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 13^th, 2020.