Orient labs: Charges to be framed on 16th

Counsel for owners of the laboratories pleaded for the arrangement to be withheld

LAHORE: Additional District and Sessions Judge Malik Tariq Mehmood Zargham on Tuesday set June 16 for framing of charges against the owners of the Orient Laboratories. The counsel for the owners of the laboratories had pleaded for the arrangement to be withheld until the Lahore High Court gave a verdict in a related petition. At an earlier hearing, three employees of Orient Labs had submitted affidavits stating that the building was constructed in accordance with the Health Department rules. In their statements, steam-boiler operator Bilal Hussain, lab in-charge Faiz Ahmed and attendant Munir Ahmed stated that teams from the Civil Defence and the Health Departments had carried out several inspections of the building. The owners, Zaheer Iqbal, Zafar Iqbal and Zubair Iqbal, are accused of negligence leading to the death of 26 people in the building collapse.

Published In The Express Tribune, June 13^th, 2012.