The Lahore High Court on Thursday dismissed the bail petitions of three accused owners of a medicine company in Lahore which caved in after a boiler blast, leaving 26 workers dead. The owners were arrested by the police.
Justice Kazim Raza Shamsi dismissed their bail applications after hearing in detail arguments of Advocate Khurram Latif Khosa, counsel of the accused and Punjab prosecutor general (PGP) on behalf of government. Police arrested accused Zafar Iqbal, Zaheer Iqbal and Zubair, owners of the company, after court decision.
Justice Shamsi said the police had to verify documentary proves and collect some other information to complete the investigation therefore the accused did not deserve pre-arrest bail. The PGP said heavy machinery had been placed in a fragile building made of mud and the resulting hazardous circumstances had caused 25 deaths. He said they had been showing themselves as pharmacists which they were not and had also hired an unqualified boiler operator.
Situation became tense in the court course of hearing when two of the accused Zafar Iqbal and Zaheer Iqbal started shouted at the PG. “You are accusing us of something we are not guilty of,” the accused said, as they reached out for the PG. However their counsel and some other supporters pacified them. During the arguments, the PGP and counsel of the accused also exchanged pinching comments by accusing each other of acting on agenda given by some high-ups.
One can’t simply construct a bad factory and get away with it
