KARACHI: A citizen on Monday approached the Sindh High Court (SHC) to register a case and seek an increase in the compensation amount for families that lost their loved ones in the inferno at a factory in the Mehran Town area of Karachi’s Korangi.

Nadeem Sheikh has asked SHC to order the government to sufficiently increase the compensation amount announced for the victims’ families and include murder and attempt to murder charges in the first information report (FIR).

Sheikh, who is an advocate by profession, pointed out in the petition that SHC’s ruling on the Baldia factory fire was ignored by the government officials and factory owners. He said in the ruling SHC had directed officials to strictly follow safety measures and bylaws, however, once again the officials failed to comply with the ruling due to greed.

He claimed that the unlawful practice of housing factories in residential areas was still ongoing with the collusion of the concerned government functionaries.

The petitioner prayed the court to order an impartial, just and fair investigation in the matter by appointing an ‘honest’ investigation officer who is not below the rank of senior superintendent of police (SSP).

The plea also urged the court to direct police to include sections 302 and 307 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC). It also appealed the court to direct the government to increase the compensation amount for victims’ families from Rs1 million to Rs5 million.