KARACHI: Sindh High Court (SHC) on Tuesday ordered to register cases in each death caused in Keamari area of the Metropolis allegedly by toxic gases.
Also read: Officials fail to ascertain cause of multiple deaths in Karachi’s Keamari
Hearing the case related to these deaths that took place few days back in Keamari, Chief Justice SHC asked the Inspector General of Police (IGP) as to how many people had died in these incidents, to which the IGP said “overall, 18 people have died in these incidents.”
The CJ SHC asked “why cases were not registered of all 18 deaths,” to which the IGP responded by saying “the police had registered cases if people come with their complaints.”
During the course of hearing, the Chief Justice SHC passed remarks that “it was responsibility of the SHO to file the case of deaths on behalf of the state,” why the police wait for an application for case registration, how could the cause of deaths come to surface without inquiry.”
The court blasted the deputy commissioner Keamari and forbade him to talk in the court. “You don’t know what happened, you should not remain on the office,” court criticized the district official.
“The state should be complainant in such cases and the case should be registered even the affected party fails to appear,” the court observed.
At the end of the today’s hearing, the SHC ordered to contact relatives and next of kin of every deceased, and register each case. The court further ordered to appoint a senior officer for investigation into the incident, take action against anyone hiding the facts.
The hearing was later adjourned until February 20.
