Baldia factory fire case: Court extends deadline for final list of charges to Nov 2

Investigating officer says police still waiting for reports from organisations, data from factory.

KARACHI: The deadline for the final list of charges or challan in the Baldia factory fire case was extended to November 2 by the second judicial Magistrate, West, Sohail Ahmed Mashori, on Tuesday.

The case pertains to a September 11 fire that broke out in the factory, killing at least 289 workers in what was called the country’s worst industrial incident.

The investigating officer, Jahanzaib Khan, requested the court for more time to submit the challan as he said the police was still waiting on reports from different organisations.

Khan told the court that the factory was not built according to the approved construction plan and that machinery was blocking the exit and entry points inside. According to the fire brigade’s report, the fire did not start due to inflammatory materials.

Another reason for the delay in the submission of the challan, according to the officer, was that the owners of Ali Enterprises had not provided the factory data.

The court was told that DNA reports for around 30 unidentified victims were still pending.

The counsel for the suspects, who were present in court, countered the allegation, saying that the factory has been in the police’s custody since the day of the fire.

During this period, the police could have obtained all the data with the help of an expert, said the counsel.

A request for better facilities in jail for the owners, Arshad Bhaila and Shahid Bhaila, was submitted in the court again. The judge summoned the state prosecution.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 24^th, 2012.