Orient labs: Factory owners put on Exit Control List

Bail plea of three brothers to be decided on Thursday.

LAHORE:

The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday put the owners of Orient Labs, whose factory on Multan Road collapsed killing dozens of workers last month, on the Exit Control List (ECL) and extended their interim bail till Thursday (today).

The court also granted the three owners protective bail for one day against an FIR registered by the Anti Corruption Establishment and six officials of the Lahore Development Authority (LDA).

Justice Syed Kazim Raza Shamsi adjourned the bail hearing for one day after he was informed that Advocate Khurram Latif Khosa, the counsel for the accused, was busy before the Supreme Court.

ACE officials appearing before the court sought permission to arrest the owners. The accused asked the court to stop them from arresting them, but it was pointed out that they had not moved an application for bail. The accused stayed in the courtroom so they could not be arrested by the ACE officials waiting outside, while another lawyer filed an application before another LHC judge. That application was eventually referred to the court of Justice Shamsi, who granted them protective bail for one day.

Orient Lab owners Zafar Iqbal, Zaheer Iqbal and Zubair Iqbal, who are brothers, applied for bail to the LHC after an additional district and sessions judge rejected their plea. An FIR has been registered against them at Sabzazar police station.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 8^th, 2012.