Sindh cabinet makes judicial inquiry report on Mir Raza case public

Report recommends formation of joint investigation team

KARACHI:

The Sindh cabinet on Tuesday made the judicial inquiry report on the Mir Raza Ali case public, directing the provincial Home Department to upload the document to its website and provide a copy to the affected family.

Raza, the 25-year-old entrepreneur, went missing from Karachi’s PECHS area on July 28. His body was found the following day in bushes near a wedding hall in Gulistan-e-Johar. Police initially treated the death as a possible suicide, but a second post-mortem conducted after his exhumation found a firearm entry wound, multiple ante-mortem injuries and signs of internal bleeding, leading investigators to treat the case as murder. The Sindh government formed a judicial commission to probe the case amid allegations of police probe botching. The commission concluded its hearing on October 8 and submitted a report to the government on October 16.

The report was presented to the cabinet in seven separate envelopes at a meeting chaired by Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah at the CM House in Karachi, according to a spokesperson.

The chief minister constituted a subcommittee comprising Home Minister Ziaul Hassan Lanjar, Nasir Hussain Shah, Saeed Ghani and the advocate general to oversee the implementation of the report’s recommendations.

Read: Mir Raza commission submits report to govt

The cabinet also approved a $150 million World Bank-supported programme to reform Sindh’s property tax system, aimed at improving revenue collection and strengthening the financial management of local government institutions.

Under the Sindh Property Revenue Enhancement Programme, the government has set a target of increasing property tax collection across Karachi’s 25 town municipal corporations (TMCs) from Rs2.3 billion to Rs25.5b.

According to a briefing to the cabinet, the World Bank will provide $110m for the Programme-for-Results component and $40m for investment projects. The Sindh government will contribute an additional 20% of the amount linked to the Programme-for-Results component as its share.

The programme also envisages modernising property tax collection in other urban local councils and strengthening the institutional capacity of 45 selected local councils.

Read More: Govt contests World Bank poverty report

Parallelly, the cabinet approved the introduction of an Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) in local government institutions to improve financial management and administrative performance.

The package includes agreements on financing and implementation, a framework for assessing results, verification procedures, and environmental and social safeguards. It was submitted to the cabinet for post-facto approval, according to the CM’s spokesperson.

The World Bank’s board is expected to consider the programme package on October 30.