LHC issues notices, seeks replies from Punjab govt, others in Lahore manhole deaths case

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday issued notices to the Punjab government and other respondents on a petition seeking action against those responsible for the incident in which a mother and her daughter died after falling into an open manhole near Bhatti Gate.

Justice Syed Shahbaz Ali Rizvi heard the petition filed by Aamna Malik and the Judicial Activism Panel.

Advocate Azhar Siddique, on behalf of the petitioners, pointed out that incidents of citizens falling into manholes were on the rise, which was a matter of serious concern.

The counsel expressed regret that negligence was shown by leaving a manhole open in a highly populated area. He claimed that the government took merely cosmetic measures instead of proceeding against the officials responsible for the incident.

Siddique asked the court to determine responsibility for the incident and initiate action against those responsible.

The assistant attorney general stated that the petitioner unnecessarily made the federal government a party to the petition, as the matter pertains to provincial authorities.

However, the judge observed that the court would like to know the opinion of the federal government as well.

After hearing preliminary arguments, the judge directed the respondents to submit their replies by March 3.

Earlier, the petitioner’s counsel, on the instructions of the court, removed the national and provincial disaster management authorities from the list of respondents.

The mother and her child had fallen into the sewer at the site of the under-construction Data Darbar expansion project near Bhatti Gate. While the woman’s body was found late at night the same day, the 10-month-old child’s body was recovered after a day.

Officials of the contractor working on the under-construction Data Darbar extension project were arrested for their negligence.

On January 31, a judicial magistrate approved a four-day physical remand of the officials.

Meanwhile, a “high-powered committee” of police officials had launched a fact-finding inquiry to probe the allegations of torture against the husband of the woman.