SHC seeks progress report for Keamari gas leak probe

Petitioner calls for registration of FIR against 'negligent' Ali Zaidi, KPT chairperson

KARACHI:

The Sindh High Court summoned on Thursday the South SSP, investigation officer and relevant SHO to court, ordering them to submit the progress report for the investigation of the deadly gas leak in Keamari earlier this year.

At least 14 people died and scores of others in Keamari were affected by the alleged toxic gas leak in the area in February.

The petitioner, seeking a probe into the tragedy, claimed the federal and provincial authorities had failed to protect the lives of citizens and no precautionary measures had been taken by the port authorities to prevent the leak. He added that many people had fallen victim to the leak due to the negligence of the relevant authorities.

"The people in the area became so afraid that they left their homes to move to other areas due to the negligence of the respondents, who failed to help them," claimed the petitioner's counsel.

He further maintained that shipments of soyabean - said to be the cause of the gas leak - are usually off-loaded at Port Qasim, but Federal Maritime Affairs Minister Ali Zaidi and the Karachi Port Trust chairperson gave permission for the vessel to dock at the Karachi Port without the necessary precautionary arrangements.

"They did not remove the vessel for four days, resulting in a mounting death toll," the lawyer alleged, adding that though area residents went to the Jackson police, the SHO did not lodge an FIR against Zaidi or the KPT chairperson.

Furthermore, the counsel claimed the University of Karachi and Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre had confirmed the victims died because of soya-bean dust and had submitted a report to the city commissioner, but the report wasn't being presented in court.

He prayed the court to order the Sindh IGP to register an FIR against Zaidi and the KPT chairman in light of the medical reports. He also sought compensation for the victims' family and that the vessel be impounded until the petition was disposed of.

Illegal land allotment

Meanwhile, a two-member bench headed by Justice Muhammad Iqbal Kalhoro expressed anger over the absence of co-accused Pakistan Peoples Party leader Jameel Soomro during a bail hearing, ordering the submission of his flight tickets at the next hearing.

Hearing the bail pleas of the provincial minister Sohail Anwar Sial and others, the court also sought a progress report from the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) over its inquiry into illegal land allotment and corruption.

When the court inquired about Soomro's absence, his lawyer stated that he was currently in Gilgit-Baltistan in connection with the ongoing election campaign.

Justice Kalhoro expressed annoyance over this, at which the lawyer said Soomro had booked a return air ticket but the flight was cancelled.

The bench asked him where the ticket was and the lawyer said it would be presented in court at the next hearing.

The court subsequently granted Soomro exemption from attendance for a day.

The court extended bail for the minister, Soomro and another accused until December 24, seeking a progress report from NAB at the next hearing.

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