KARACHI, Dec 5: The case of a polluting chickenfeed factory at Korangi would be sent up for trial to the Environmental Protection Tribunal before Dec 23, the environmental protection agency (EPA) director-general assured the Sindh High Court on Thursday.
The Jinnah Medical College Hospital approached the high court for a direction to the EPA to prosecute the factory under the Environmental Protection Act, 1997. The petitioner said it moved a complaint against M/s United Poultry Chickenfeed Factory located on plot number 9, sector 7, Korangi industrial area, Karachi, under the 1997 act.
According to the complaint, the feed manufacturing process and material generates obnoxious odour that is unbearable for hospital patients and employees. The emission of foul smell amounted to pollution under the law. It was a culpable offence punishable under the 1997 Act. No action was, however, taken on its complaint and the complainant had no option but to move the high court to seek a direction to the EPA to discharge its duty under the law.
The court summoned the Environmental Protection Agency director-general to appear personally and explain why it was reluctant to perform its statutory function and investigate the complaint and prosecute the culprits if the allegation proved true. The director-general appeared on Friday and informed a division bench comprising Justices Khilji Arif Hussain and Ghulam Dastgir A. Shahani that he issued a notice to the factory on Sept 16 to make an explanation within 60 days as required by the 1997 Act. However, there was no response from the factory.
Assistant Advocate-General Adnan Karim Memon said the case clearly fell within the mischief of law and the agency should have acted promptly to investigate what was clearly a case of pollution and public nuisance. The DG said there was sufficient material to refer the petitioner hospital’s complaint to the environmental tribunal without further delay. The bench directed him to report compliance by Dec 23, then the petition would again come up for hearing.
KBCA petition
Another division bench consisting of Justices Mrs Qaiser Iqbal and Syed Mahmood Alam Rizvi adjourned proceedings in the Karachi Building Control Authority petition for attachment of about 110 buildings being constructed without its sanction or in violation of the approved plans in Lyari, Saddar, Clifton, Liaquatabad and other localities of the city.
The petition signed by the chief controller of buildings, Manzoor Qadir, says that the buildings will be occupied and become an irreversible accomplished fact if no action was taken immediately. The court had earlier restrained the public utilities, including the Karachi Electricity Supply Corporation, the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board, the Sui Gas Corporation and the PTCL, from providing connections to the unauthorized buildings and the registrar of properties from registering sub-leases in respect of the plots and shops constructed therein.
Representing the petitioner, Advocate Rasheed A. Razvi requested adjournment at the end of the hearing to enable him to submit copies of the relevant judgments. KBCA counsel Shahid Jamil Khan earlier sought a direction under Section 7-A of the Sindh Building Control Ordinance to seal the buildings.
Detention matters
Another division bench consisting of Chief Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali and Justice Qamaruddin Bohra adjourned the hearing of a petition seeking repatriation of Dr Afia Siddiqui from the United States to a date in office when the petitioner failed to come up with a positive reply to a court query about removing office objections. Petitioner Intekhab Alam has moved the petition on behalf of a non-governmental organization without any reference to the aggrieved family of the detainee.
The petition says that Dr Afia being a Pakistani citizen should be tried in Pakistan if she has committed any offence or be duly extradited to face trial in the United States. However, she has illegally been taken to the United States.
A petition moved by Jibran Baladi to question allegedly illegal detention of Asif Baladi of Jiay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz was dismissed by the bench comprising Justices K.A. Hussain and G.D.A. Shahani as AAG Adnan Karim Memon informed it that the detainee was facing trial under the Explosives and Anti-Terrorist Acts in four cases. He had been lawfully remanded by an anti-terrorism court, he said.
Designer’s murder
Justice Mrs Yasmeen Abbasy, meanwhile, issued a notice to the prosecution for Dec 15 in bail applications moved by brothers Ameer Hamza and Saad Farooq, who are accused in fashion designer Sheikh Amir Hasan’s murder. Advocate Rasheed A. Razvi appeared for the applicants, Advocate M. Ilyas Khan for the victim’s complainant brother, Jalal Hasan, and Additional Prosecutor-General Salim Akhtar Awan for the prosecution. Their bail plea was dismissed by the trial sessions court of district south.
Unnar’s treatment
A kidney specialist confirmed on Friday that former revenue minister Altaf Hussain Unnar needed immediate specialised treatment and that any delay could be ‘life threatening’.
The bench told AAG Adnan Karim Memon, who produced the specialist’s report, that a special division bench comprising Justices Mohammad Athar Saeed and Arshad Noor Khan would assemble on Saturday to hear the case. Advocate Wasique Ahmed Kehar, counsel for the petitioner son (Adeel Unnar) of the detainee, has moved an urgent application for his shifting in view of his worsening condition. Justice Hussain would not be available on Saturday.
Dr Faseeh Ahmed of Liaquat Medical University Hospital, Jamshoro, said in his statement before the bench consisting of Justices K.A. Hussain and G.D.A. Shahani that he examined Mr Unnar at the Hyderabad central prison on Thursday in pursuance of a court order. His condition calls for extensive blood, cardiograph, electrolyte and urea tests. He should be shifted to ‘a specialised unit’ for tests and treatment. The court had already ordered his shifting either to the Kidney Centre, Karachi, or to the Jamshoro hospital.
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