The Sindh High Court has issued a notice to the Sindh prosecutor general to file comments on whether the reports of probes into the activities of Lyari gangster Uzair Baloch, former chairman of Fishermen Cooperative Society Dr Nisar Morai and Baldia factory fire are part of the prosecution case being heard by the trial court or not.
The directives came on Wednesday on a petition seeking the unveiling of the said reports compiled by joint investigation teams (JIT). An SHC division bench headed by Justice Mohammad Iqbal Kalhoro inquired from the provincial law officer about the status of JIT reports and whether these reports were part of the prosecution’s case before the trial court or not.
The provincial law officer requested the court to issue a notice to the Sindh prosecutor general as documents sought to be published are part of the prosecution case and he will be in a better position to inform the court on the issue.
He also sought adjournment on behalf of the Sindh advocate general, who has to argue on the petition but is busy before the Supreme Court in Islamabad. The court issued a notice to the Sindh prosecutor general for December 4 and directed the home department to depute an officer who may appear along with the relevant record at the next date of hearing.
Case history
PTI leader Syed Ali Haider Zaidi, who is now a federal minister, had submitted in the petition that startling disclosures were made in the JIT reports regarding the involvement of politicians in crimes such as killings and extortion. Concerned authorities were approached to obtain copies of the reports and for making them public, but to no avail, the PTI official stated.
Uzair Baloch, tried by a military court under charges of espionage for Iranian intelligence agencies, had confessed to his association with Pakistan Peoples Party’s central leadership, including its women’s wing leader Faryal Talpur, said Zaidi.
He added that Baloch admitted paying extortion amounts received from different department to Faryal. He also confessed to killing several people on the directives of the party’s leadership as well as facilitating them in having private lands and properties vacated by threatening property owners.
Invoking Article 19-A of the Constitution, the PTI leader asserted that the provincial and federal governments’ failure to publish such JIT reports is a violation of the citizens’ right to information.
Zaidi further maintained that the content of JIT reports is of public importance as it relates to crimes that have wide reaching implications on the public. Further making the party’s case for disclosure of the reports, he mentioned that print and electronic media, through various sources, have reported on JITs obtaining evidence suggesting involvement of various politicians in the crimes and it is imperative that such persons are held accountable for their actions.
Zaidi added that disclosure of the reports was important as there were allegations of state machinery being utilised to commit and cover up the crimes. “People have the right to know if public resources were used for such activities,” the PTI official stated. “The very purpose of constituting these JITs, i.e. to uncover the truth of these crimes, stands defeated if the reports are kept secret.”
Zaidi maintained that the JIT reports are required to be made public under provisions of the Sindh Transparency and Right to Information Act, 2011. Families of those who fell victim to the Lyari gang-war, whose loved ones perished in the Baldia factory fire and other crimes, deserve justice. They should know who the perpetrators of those crimes were, he added. The court was requested to publish and provide official copies of the reports prepared by the JITs in the cases.