KARACHI — The Sindh High Court has granted bail to the owners of the building that collapsed in Karachi’s Lyari Baghdadi area, overturning an earlier decision by the sessions court that had rejected their bail applications.
According to court details, a two-member bench headed by Justice Umar Sial approved bail for Rahim Bakhsh and Taj Muhammad, the owners of the ill-fated structure, against surety bonds of Rs. 500,000 each.
The case stems from the tragic collapse of a residential building in Lyari, which claimed 27 lives and left four others injured. Prosecutors alleged that the owners’ negligence and pursuit of personal profit led to the disaster, describing it as a direct consequence of their disregard for safety standards.
Defense counsel Advocate Shaukat Hayat, however, argued that the police had distorted evidence and that the accused had already faced significant trial proceedings. He urged the court to grant bail, asserting that continued detention was unjustified.
The court’s latest ruling comes after the sessions court had previously denied bail, citing the gravity of the charges. Notably, 10 officers of the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) implicated in the same case have already been granted bail.
The accused face charges under sections related to criminal negligence, recklessness, and culpable homicide, as authorities continue to probe lapses that led to one of Lyari’s deadliest urban tragedies.
The decision has reignited debate over Karachi’s recurring incidents of building collapses and the lack of accountability in the city’s construction oversight system a crisis that continues to put residents’ lives at risk.
