LAHORE: Justice Manzoor Ahmed Malik of the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday sought comments from police on inserting the murder charge in an FIR filed against the owners of the pharmaceutical company whose building collapsed in Lahore last week and killed 32.
Justice Malik also barred the city police from illegally harassing the owners.
The petition, filed by Zafar Iqbal, Zaheer Iqbal and Zubair Iqbal - owners of the company, challenged the legality of inserting murder section in the FIR against them.
The petitioner, through their advocate Khuram Latif Khan Khosa, submitted before the court that the Sabzazar Police Station had unlawfully put PPC sections in the FIR to project the accidental deaths as intentional murders.
They requested the court to remove the murder clause from the FIR.
The petitioners added that they themselves are the victims of the tragic incident that left 32 dead as their factory was devastated and their workers lost their lives.
The owners added that they were granted interim bail by Additional District and Sessions Judge Chaudhary Nazeer Ahmed but the police was still harassing them.
“Police have unlawfully sealed our house and warehouse and have impounded our vehicles and have seized the company's machines,” they stated.
The judge, after hearing arguments, directed the CCPO to stop illegal harassment and file a reply by February 17.
According to the FIR, the company owners were told many times to relocate their factory to a non-residential area however they never did so. The FIR also stated that the owners violated labour laws by setting up a factory in a residential area.
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Was anybody responsible for building being built and the building being used as a factory.