SHC asks if prosecution is using JIT reports in Uzair Baloch, Baldia factory fire trials

The Sindh High Court on Friday directed the provincial additional advocate general (AAG) to file comments as to whether the joint investigation team (JIT) reports compiled after probes into the activities of Lyari gangster Uzair Baloch, former chairman of Fishermen Cooperative Society Dr Nisar Morai and the Baldia factory fire are part of the prosecution case before the trial court or not.

The directives came on a petition seeking the unveiling of JIT reports compiled after probes into the activities of Lyari gangster Uzair Baloch, former chairman of Fishermen Cooperative Society Dr Nisar Morai and the Baldia factory fire that claimed the lives of more than 250 workers in 2012.

The SHC’s division bench headed by Justice Mohammad Iqbal Kalhoro inquired from the provincial law officer about the status of the JIT reports compiled after probes into the three cases and whether they were part of the prosecution case before the trial court hearing them or not.

The law officer submitted that he has written letters to the Sindh police chief about the status of JITs and sought further time to file a report to the SHC. The court directed the law officer to file a proper report and adjourned the hearing till November 14.

PTI leader Syed Ali Haider Zaidi, who is now 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. The relevant authorities were approached to obtain copies of the reports and to make 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 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 departments to Faryal. Besides, he also confessed to killing several people allegedly 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 the JIT reports is of public importance as it relates to crimes that have wide reaching implications on the public. Further making his case for the disclosure of the reports, he mentioned that print and electronic media, through various sources, have reported on the 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 the 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.