Baldia Factory fire: SHC directs prosecution to submit report on suspects

Petitioner seeks court order to make Baldia incident's JIT report public

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) directed the prosecution to submit a detailed report on the ongoing cases of Baldia Factory fire suspects, Uzair Baloch and Nisar Morai, in the next hearing on October 19. A two-member bench headed by Justice Iqbal Kalhoro was hearing a petition, filed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Ali Zaidi, requesting the court to order the government to make the joint investigation team (JIT) reports of Baldia incident public.

The JIT reports of Baloch and Morai have not been officially made public, the petitioner said, adding that the latter had accused senior politicians for their involvement in the alleged murder of seven people. The petition maintained that as per Article 19A of the

Constitution, citizens had the right to access the JIT reports of the suspects.

The court asked whether the JIT reports had been placed before the trial courts. It also asked the advocate general if the JIT reports were part of police records.



Time granted

The same bench granted time till October 11 to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for submitting the relevant documents on the bail plea of former chairperson of the Fishermen Cooperative Society, Nisar Morai, in the corruption reference worth millions of rupees.

The lawyer for the suspect, Rashid A Rizvi, argued that Morai was arrested in 2016 and the NAB has not yet produced evidence pertaining to illegal contracts. He said that the corruption reference was made on mere assumptions.

The NAB prosecutor maintained that Morai was accused of millions of rupees corruption and illegal appointments in the institution, adding that the accused kept receiving salaries from the Fishermen Society and the health department at the same time. Moreover, the prosecutor claimed, Morai illegally appointed people in the society.

Missing persons' case

The SHC once again summoned the progress report regarding the recovery of 50 missing persons from the Sindh police, DG rangers and other respondents by October 21.

"We want results not this paper work," Justice Naimatullah Phulpoto said, while heading a two-member bench that heard the petitions.

The court expressed anger and annoyance over the performance of the police. Justice Phulpoto remarked that the police have failed to perform their constitutional responsibilities and instead come up with traditional reports.

The counsel for the petitioners said that over four years had passed since the disappearance of their loved ones and even after the formation of seven JITs, they had not been recovered. Faizan disappeared from PS Baghdadi in 2016. While the Sindh police formed four JITs to resolve the case, they were unsuccessful. Furthermore, Amir Ali disappeared from Korangi in 2015 and a JIT was formed to recover him in 2018.

The lawyers said that if there were any allegations against the missing persons, then they should be presented in court.

Police postings and transfers

The court on Wednesday heard a contempt petition against Sindh Chief Minister (CM) Murad Ali Shah and Sindh Inspector-General (IG) Syed Kaleem Imam for not complying with court orders pertaining to legislation regarding postings and transfers in the police department.



The petition, filed by Barrister Faisal Siddiqui, maintained that the provincial government was not taking interest in enacting laws for appointments and transfers of the police officers even though the court had given clear orders in its ruling on September 7, 2017. The petition further stated that the provincial government was granted numerous extensions by the court for the legislation and as such the court should initiate legal action against the CM and Sindh police chief.

Conviction set aside

Another two-member bench of the SHC set aside the sentence of Muhammad Ali, who was convicted by a trial court for extorting Rs500,000.

An anti-terrorism court (ATC) had awarded a five-year imprisonment to the accused. According to the police, the case was registered on the complaint of a citizen, a resident of Orangi Town, against three suspects. Of them, two suspects, Shehbaz and Muhammad Asif, have already been acquitted. According to the prosecution, the suspects had asked for extortion money amounting to Rs500,000. 

Published in The Express Tribune, October 11^th, 2018.