KE CEO, three other officials acquitted in electrocution case

A district and sessions court on Monday acquitted four K-Electric (KE) officials, including its chief executive officer (CEO), from a case pertaining to the death of a teenager by electrocution during the last monsoon rains in Karachi.

The South additional district and sessions judge, Aurangzeb Shah, approved the C-class report submitted by police in the case which stated that the family of the deceased Faizan did not want to pursue the case as they had reached an out-of-court settlement with the power utility.

Police had booked KE CEO Moonis Alvi, distribution head Amir Zia, senior security officer Faheem and assistant manager Owais for allegedly causing the death of 19-year-old Faizan from electrocution at the company’s office in Defence Housing Authority Phase-VII on Aug 11, 2020. All the accused had obtained bail from the Sindh High Court.

In November, the investigation officer (IO) of the case had filed a report in the court of a judicial magistrate, recommending the disposal of the case in the ‘C’ class, or ‘cancelled’ class on the basis that the complainant, Muhammad Fayyaz, and other family members of Faizan had realised that the victim had mistakenly entered a KE sub-station.

The IO had added that the legal heirs of the victim did not want any legal action to be taken against the nominated KE officers and had settled the matter out of court after which they wanted to withdraw the case.

The complainant’s counsel had also seconded the version of the IO, contending that such act comes in the ambit of the ‘mistake of fact’ as the FIR was mistakenly lodged by the family with no involvement of the suspects.

However, the judicial magistrate had rejected the report and ordered the registration of an FIR against the accused observing that “the parties are free to file such compromise before the Court of Sessions.” The FIR was lodged under the Section 322 (manslaughter) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code at the Defence police station.