Bail plea of Baldia fire co-accused dismissed

The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Monday dismissed the bail application of Zubair, alias Charya, a co-accused in the Baldia garment factory arson case.

The applicant’s counsel said Zubair was implicated in the case on the basis of the statement of prime suspect Abdul Rehman, alias Bhola, adding that while several politicians and political activists were named in the statement and the joint investigation team’s report, they were not named co-accused.

He sought bail for his client, claiming that the case required further inquiry and that no evidence was found against him so far. But the special prosecutor opposed the bail application, saying that the eyewitnesses had identified Zubair as the one who had torched the factory.

He said that sufficient evidence had been collected against him to prove his guilt, adding that the prime suspect had also implicated him in the case. He requested that the court dismiss the bail application.

After listening to all the arguments, the SHC’s division bench headed by Justice Naimatullah Phulpoto dismissed the bail application and directed the trial court to conclude the proceedings promptly.

Rehman, a former sector incharge for the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, had claimed in his confessional statement that the Baldia factory was set on fire on the order of the then head of the party’s Karachi Tanzeemi Committee, Hammad Siddiqui, over the factory owners’ non-payment of Rs250 million in extortion.

Two hundred and fifty-nine workers were burnt alive while many others were injured on September 11, 2012, when the garment factory was set ablaze by the accused over non-payment of extortion.  

‘Detention’ of two brothers

The SHC issued notices to the federal and provincial law officers to file comments on a petition against the alleged detention of two brothers by law enforcement and security agencies.

Petitioner Saleem Baloch said police and other officials had picked up his sons Mohammad Nadeem and Shakeel Ahmed from Manghopir on November 20 and their whereabouts were still unknown.

Baloch said the police were neither disclosing the whereabouts of his sons nor were they willing to reveal the details of the cases against the detainees. He requested that the court direct the police to produce his sons in court or release them if they were not required in any cases.

Plea against VC of DUHS

The SHC issued notices to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), the deputy attorney general and others on a petition seeking registration of a case against the vice chancellor of the Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) for travelling abroad on a foreign passport despite being in government service.

Petitioner Dr Masood Hameed said he was the founding VC of the DUHS, adding that he had filed a complaint with the FIA against the current VC, Dr Saeed Quraishy, for travelling abroad on a British passport in 2014-15 without obtaining ex-Pakistan leave from the competent authority.

Dr Hameed said that despite a lapse of two years, the FIA had not concluded their inquiry, adding that the sessions court had not issued any order on his application. He requested that the SHC direct the agency to conclude its inquiry and register a case against Dr Quraishy for violating the law.

The bench, after the preliminary hearing of the petition, subject to maintainability of the petition, issued notices to the FIA, the deputy attorney general and others, directing them to file their comments on February 27.