Justice Sajjad Ali Shah of Sindh High Court has ordered interim and provisional attachment before judgement of a 14-wheeler long trailer bearing No JT-5419 Nissan Make, which was involved in a traffic accident killing two persons, namely Aamir Ahmed Parekh and his driver Muhammad Hanif.
The father, mother and widow along with two daughters and son of deceased Aamir Parekh approached the Court by way of accident compensation claim through their counsel Nasir Maqsood and Aamir Maqsood and claimed Rs 200 million against the Province of Sindh, through Sindh Chief Secretary and Home Secretary, and City District Government, and Container Terminal--QICT--from where container CCLU 6405939 was loaded on trailer, as well as China Shipping Container Co Ltd along with owner of trailer and driver of the vehicle involved in the accident, respectively.
It was alleged in the plaint that on August 4, 2006, the driver of the trailer, during the course of employment of owner of the trailer, while driving the said offending trailer in a rash and negligent manner, having carelessly placed a 40 feet long container on its body on its way from Port Bin Qasim towards City via Main Korangi Industrial Road.
When it reached the verge of descending portion of the Jam Sadiq Ali overhead bridge came across ditches/pits with uneven surface/patches over there, the driver, in a bid to avoid the same, attempted to deflect the course and, in the meantime, the said ill-fated container, in which the heavy paper rolls in huge reels were stuffed, got imbalanced and fell off the said trailer straightaway on the car No AGX-019, which was being driven by the driver Muhammad Hanif, with the deceased Aamir Parekh occupying the front seat, along with him.
Incidentally, both the aforesaid occupants of the car got fatal injuries and died by succumbing to these fatal injuries caused to them. Nasir Maqsood, counsel for the plaintiffs, who are father, mother, widow and three minors, have suffered a lot, as their bread earner died on account of rash and negligent driving of the said offending trailer.
His further contention was that the transporters were contemplating to remove the vehicle from the jurisdiction of the Court to defeat the prospective decree and in such eventuality the plaintiffs would not be able to take any step towards realisation of the decretal amount due to their drawback and shortcomings.
It was, inter alia, contended in the application that Police authorities had released the trailer after the accident without having any solvent security and the said trailer was not insured by the owners for the third-party risk, which was mandatory under Section 125 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1939.
As such, the trailer was the only tangible asset known to the plaintiffs. Thus in case the decree in the compensation was passed, the plaintiffs would not be able to enjoy the fruits of the decree and it would be badly affected. The court passed the attachment order in a suit filed under the provisions of the Fatal Accidents Act, 1855.
The plaintiff's counsel also relied upon the precedent of Superior Court in which interim orders of attachment before judgement had been granted in similar circumstances.
Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, after hearing submission from the counsel, ordered SHO of Korangi Police Station, who released the trailer, to impound and place the offending trailer at the Police Station till further orders of the Court. The SHO was further directed to detain the same safely at the Police Station and submit the compliance report. The Court also ordered the Excise & Taxation Department, Motor Registration Wing, Karachi, not to transfer the offending vehicle in favour of any third party til1 further orders.-PR
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