Inquiry report sought into PIMS tragedy

RAWALPINDI:

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has issued notices to the federal government and others on a petition seeking registration of a case over the deaths of children in the PIMS tragedy and compensation for the affected families.

The notices were issued to the Prime Minister's Office, Ministry of Health, Establishment Division, Islamabad Healthcare Regulatory Authority, Auditor General, chief commissioner, deputy commissioner, Capital Development Authority (CDA), Capital Emergency Services, executive director of PIMS, Islamabad Inspector General of Police and Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) director general.

The court also summoned the complete record, including the inquiry report into the incident, and suspended an order passed by a justice of peace dismissing an application for registration of an FIR.

Justice Khadim Hussain Soomro heard the petition filed by lawyer Riaz Hanif Rahi.

The petitioner told the court that 14 children had caught fire simultaneously in the PIMS incident, while another child died later. He said no FIR had been registered to date over the deaths.

The court asked whether an inquiry had been conducted into the incident. In response, Rahi said the inquiry report had established negligence.

He requested the court to direct the authorities to register an FIR immediately and submit it before the court by the end of the day's proceedings.

The petitioner further said the justice of peace had dismissed his application for registration of a case on the grounds that petitions concerning the matter were already pending before the high court.

He maintained that, apart from him, no one had approached the police station with an application, and an FIR should have been registered. He questioned the purpose of collecting evidence when no criminal case had been registered to pursue the matter.