RAWALPINDI, April 26: Additional District and Sessions Judge Chaudhry Imtiaz Ahmed on Saturday extended the pre-arrest interim bail of two owners of the collapsed Bano Arcade for another 14 days, as the defence counsel of the petitioner held the contractor and the officials of the tehsil municipal administration (TMA) responsible for the March 4 tragedy at Commercial Market.

The same court also confirmed the pre-arrest bail of three owners of another plaza, who had been booked by the New Town police for illegal construction and use of substandard material in their building as part of the government’s move to dig out more illegal buildings in the city.

The court extended the bail of Sheikh Anwar Inam and Sheikh Aqeel, owners of the Bano arcade, as their defence counsel, Sardar Ishaq Khan and Qausain Faisal, contended before the court that their clients could not be held responsible for the collapse of the building that had led to the death of seven people and injuries to 42 others.

They contended that the contractor and the TMA officials were the main characters in the whole episode. They said the owners had their office at the Bano Arcade and were not aware of the quality of the construction material.

The defence counsel alleged that the contractor of the building was responsible for using substandard material, while the officials concerned of the TMA had committed the offence of intentionally overlooking the building.

They pleaded with the court to extend the bail of their clients because if the investigating officer (IO) had included the TMA officials and the contractor in the case then the implementation of Section 161 of the Pakistan Penal Code was a must in the case. They said if Section 161 was included in the case then the case would not fall in the jurisdiction of the court, as it would have to be transferred to the provincial anti- corruption court.

They also contended that according to Diyat - the Islamic law - the owners were willing to compensate the heirs of those who had lost their lives or were severely injured in the building collapse.

Meanwhile, the same court also confirmed the pre-arrest bail of the owners of the Malikabad Shopping Plaza, Shahzad, Babar Zaman and Sarfaraz, who had been booked by the New Town police station for using substandard material and threatening the TMA officials.

The defence counsel of the petitioner contended before the court that except for Section 506 (threatening the TMA officials with dire consequences) all other allegations. They also added that Section 506 could not be implemented in the case, as the accused had not given life threats to the investigating officials nor had they showed them any weapons to keep them silent.

It may be mentioned here that Civil Judge and Judicial Magistrate Hasnain Qadar Ghillo had already confirmed the pre- arrest bail of a fourth owner of the same plaza, Shahbaz Namdar, few weeks back.