Efroze Chemicals: Court dismisses bail pleas of ‘missing’ pharma co officials

LHC disposes of petition for recovery of father and son with direction to approach police.

LAHORE:

The Lahore High Court on Monday disposed of a petition for the recovery of two senior officials of a drug company allegedly responsible for the Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC) deaths, while the district and sessions judge dismissed their interim bails.

At the High Court, petitioner Shahid Ali Khan submitted that two witnesses had seen police officials in plain clothes pick up his brother Nadir Ali Khan Feroz and nephew Shakil Khan Nadir as they left the sessions court after obtaining interim bail on January 24.

The petitioner submitted that he had filed a complaint at Islampura police station seeking a kidnapping case against police officials, but no action had been taken.

Model Town SP Ijaz Shafi appeared before the court and denied that the father and son were in police custody.

The court disposed of the petition and directed the Islampura SHO to decide the application of the petitioner in accordance with the law.

Meanwhile, District and Sessions Nazir Ahmad Ganjana dismissed the interim bail pleas of Nadir Feroz, the deputy managing director of Efroze, and his son Shakil, the general manager, who are accused of criminal negligence in connection with the deaths of 150 patients of the PIC.



The interim bails of the two officials were dismissed as neither appeared before the court on Monday, though their lawyer claimed that this was because they were in the illegal custody of Punjab Police. He asked the court to extend their bails until the conclusion of an investigation into their alleged abduction.

The prosecutor said that the allegations against the police were baseless. He said that the accused were “staging a drama” to avoid arrest and to delay their trial. He asked the court to dismiss their bails.

A Facebook group seeking support for the recovery of Feroz and Shakil Khan has also been launched.

After hearing both parties, the court dismissed their bail petitions. The court did extend the interim bails of Zulifqar Ali, Muhammad Yousaf, Dr Amir, Dr Warasat, Dr Nasir Mehmod and Tariq Rehman in the same case till January 30.

Some 150 PIC patients died around a year ago after taking Isotab, a medicine manufactured by the Karachi-based Eferoze Chemicals. An inquiry led by DIG Zulfiqar Cheema recommended that murder cases be registered against 10 officials of the company, including its owner, under Sections 302 (qatl-i-amd) and 322 (qatl-bis-sabab) of the Pakistan Penal Code, as well as sections of the Drugs Act of 1976.

The inquiry committee also recommended cases under Section 322 against two distributors under Section 322; and five employees, including three doctors, at the PIC under sections of the penal code dealing with forgery and cheating for tampering with the record of medicines at the hospital.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 29^th, 2013.