reservations over it, then a competent forum could be approached for determining its veracity.
An SHC division bench headed by Chief Justice Maqbool Baqar observed that it was rightly pointed out by the petitioner’s counsel that the report was an outcome of an investigation into some other crime and not the result of a probe into the Baldia factory fire.
The court directed the media to be careful and precise while discussing sub-judice matters in future. It also clarified that the veracity and relevance of the report would be determined by a competent forum before which it could be placed for this purpose.
The report was submitted before the SHC on February 6. The terror suspect had disclosed before the JIT that he was informed by a Baldia Town activist of the political party that a party senior official had demanded Rs200 million through his front-man from the factory owners in August 2012.
He had said the factory owners met the activist of Baldia Town Asghar Baig and told him that someone had demanded extortion in the name of the party. The activist and his brother Majid took the factory owner to the party office and met with the then in-charge of the organising committee upon which they said that this matter was not from their side and later suspended the activist of Baldia Town. After the suspension of Asghar Baig, Rehman Bhola was given the task to collect the extortion money and on refusal of payment, Rehman Bhola and his unidentified accomplice threw a chemical substance in the factory that caused the fire.
Rizwan had further disclosed that on the orders of a party high official, an ex-minister went to the police station and registered a case against the factory owners. He said that the ex-minister used his influence to get the bail of factory owners cancelled. He said that the CID had arrested Majid, a brother of Asghar, but on the instruction of the political party, the factory owners gave a statement before the police that Majid was not involved in the incident and he was subsequently released.