KARACHI: Sindh High Court (SHC), on Saturday, granted protective bail to five officials of the Regent Plaza, including the owners in case pertaining to a fire that claimed lives of 12 people and wounded over 70 persons.
The Safdar police had booked Muzaffar Baweja, Zubairuddin Baweja, Saad, Arshad and Javed for their alleged negligence due to which the fire erupted. They had approached the high court seeking grant of protective bail to avoid their possible arrest by the police.
The applicants, thorough their counsels, submitted that the fire broke out accidentally, but the police were treating it as an act of negligence and carelessness.
They informed the court that they had been saddened at the loss of lives of the people and were ready to cooperate with the police in investigation. The SHC was requested to restrain the police from arresting the applicants by granting them protective pre-arrest bail.
After hearing initial arguments, the court approved the protective bail of the accused persons directing them to submit a surety of Rs 200,000 each. It further directed them to surrender before the trial court within four days when their bail would cease.
At least 12 people were burnt alive and 70 others, including the national cricketers. who were staying in the hotel, sustained injuries when the fire was broke out in the kitchen of Regent Plaza, Shahrah-e-Faisal Karachi.
The case FIR 355/2016 was registered under section 322 (punishment for qatl-bis-sabab) 337-A (punishment of shajjah), 427 (mischief causing damage to the amount of fifty rupees) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code.