SHC asks Centre if heirs of missing crewmen can be compensated

Petitioner’s counsel says families not receiving positive response from government officials

The Sindh High Court (SHC) directed the federal law officer on Thursday to contact the finance and foreign affairs ministries to ascertain the possibility of compensating the legal heirs of the missing Pakistani crewmen of the Iranian flagship MV Jouya-8 as part of interim arrangements.

The order came on a petition seeking an inquiry into the death of six Pakistani crewmen of a ship in Yemen and the rescue of the missing crewmen of the MV Jouya-8.

The Ansar Burney Trust said in the petition that a cargo ship with Pakistani crewmen aboard was hit by a missile off the Mukha coast in Yemen in which six Pakistanis were reportedly killed while others were still missing.

The petitioner said that in another incident, six Pakistani crewmen aboard the Iranian cargo ship MV Jouya-8 were also missing since December 11 last year.

The petitioner’s counsel said the families of the crewmen were not receiving any positive response from the government officials, adding that the families were facing difficulties in receiving salaries and other benefits from the shipping agents, while the government was not taking any steps for ascertaining the missing crewmen’s whereabouts.

The court was earlier informed by the licensee of the shipping agent Arabian Marine Services that the process of compensation had been initiated and a letter had been despatched to the Iranian ship owner to compensate the legal heirs of the crewmen.

The federal law officer said the relevant foreign ministry official would also take up the matter with the Iranian government.

The SHC’s division bench headed by Justice Irfan Saadat Khan said the court had ordered the federal government to examine the possibility of compensating the families of the missing crewmen at their own expenses as part of interim arrangements, which might be adjusted after receiving funds from the ship owner.

The federal law officer said no proper allocation of funds had been made in the present budget and that the practical difficulties could not be removed unless expenses were provided for the operation.

The court directed the federal law officer to contact the ministries of finance and foreign affairs to ascertain the possibility of compensating the legal heirs of the missing crewmen as part of interim arrangements by making the appropriate allocation of funds in accordance with the law.

The federal law officer sought time to file a response in this regard, following which the SHC bench directed the officer to submit his reply by July 11.

The court was earlier informed that the ship was attacked by a rocket in the Red Sea and that the vessel had sunk near the port of Hodeida, which was under the control of the Houthi rebels and the whereabouts of Kabir Khadim Hussain, who informed the ship owner about the incident, was still untraceable.

The petitioner’s counsel also filed a list of names of the crewmen along with affidavits of their relatives.