Registration of fresh case ordered: SC goes after Shershah bridge collapse culprits

[Lahore_Real_Estate]

* Orders names of 2 bridge designers be put on ECL
* NHA told to pay Rs 1.5m to heirs of each collapse victim

KARACHI: The Supreme Court Wednesday ordered registration of a fresh case against those responsible for the Shershah bridge collapse and directed to re-include the names of two designers of the bridge on the exit control list (ECL).

The court directed the federal communication secretary to initiate a probe into the matter to determine who was responsible for the collapse and initiate departmental action. The inspector general of police was told to find out who were the officers against whom cases were not registered as a result of the inquiry held immediately after the incident.

The court also directed the National Highway Authority (NHA) to pay interim compensation of Rs 1.5 million to the heirs of each of the six people who died in the tragedy.

A three-member bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and comprising Justice Khilji Arif Hussain and Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday, while hearing the case at the Supreme Court’s Karachi Registry, also ordered the prosecutor general to monitor the inquiry and submit a report within six weeks.

The NHA had filed an appeal before the Supreme Court against the Sindh High Court (SHC) decision to take the names of bridge designers Zahir Mirza and Navid Zaheer off the ECL.

Deputy Attorney General Umer Hayat Sindhu, applicants’ advocate Nadeem Azhar Siddiqi, Sindh Prosecutor General Shahadat Awan, Federal Communication Secretary Sharif Ahmed Khan, NHA Chairman Altaf Ahmed, former NHA chairman Gen (retd) Farrukh and others appeared before the court.

After listening to the arguments, the court ordered re-inclusion of the designers’ names on the ECL and suspended the SHC order of May 29, 2009.

The court also made it clear that the names of those found responsible for the incident would be included on the ECL too.

Expressing his displeasure during the hearing, Justice Ramday said that the bridge collapsed in just 10 days of its opening and everyone should be ashamed of it.

In another remark, the justice asked where was it written in the NHA laws that allows “loot and kill”.

The court directed the NHA to pay interim compensation of Rs 1.5 million to the heirs of each of the collapse victims, namely Ali Mohammed, Fayaz, Moosa, Rizwan, Raza Raja and Ghulam Ali, and also ordered that an amount be allocated for investment in a profitable scheme for the protection and support of the victims’ children so that they could keep getting profit on a monthly basis.

The NHA chairman was directed to make the payments within three days and ordered the prosecutor general to authenticate the receipts.

During the hearing, DIG Sardar Abdul Majeed Dasti informed the court that no case of the incident was registered even though six people were killed and over a dozen injured.

Showing indignation, the court ordered complete investigation of the incident and also directed that cases should be registered against those responsible under criminal laws.

Later, the court adjourned the hearing for six weeks. app