Clifton restaurant deaths: SHC informed of out of court settlement

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) was informed on Monday that the parties have reached to compromise in the case pertaining to death of two children after eating at a restaurant in Clifton in November last year.

Muhammad Ihsan, the father of two deceased children, informed a bench of SHC that the two parties have reached to an out of court settlement over the matter.

The bench directed the parties to submit the copies of the agreement in the trial court.

The health of one-and-a-half-year-old Tufail Ahmed, his elder brother Mohammed Omar, 4, and their mother, Ayesha Ihsan, deteriorated at their home in Defence on Nov 10 when they reached there after eating food at a restaurant in Zamzama, Clifton. Later, both children died while the laboratory reports confirmed that the siblings died from food poisoning as poisonous bacteria was found in the food of the restaurant.

A two-member bench, comprising Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Agha Faisal, was hearing a request by the owner of a restaurant in Karachi’s Defence to have his business unsealed. The Sindh Food Authority sealed the restaurant in DHA after the incident.

The petitioner, Nadeem Mumtaz Raja, wanted his restaurant to be unsealed on the basis that the Sindh Food Authority doesn’t have the authority to take action in DHA. DHA falls under the jurisdiction of the CBC, which is supposed to take action here.

The Sindh High Court earlier extended interim pre-arrest bail to the owner of a restaurant.

The accused had moved to the high court to avoid his arrest after his bail plea was dismissed by a session court.

Two employees of the restaurant were earlier detained and booked with others under sections 322, 272 (adulteration of food or drink intended for sale) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code at the Sahil police station.