In-camera submission of Uzair, Baldia fire JIT reports ordered again

The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Saturday directed the provincial advocate general to submit the joint investigation teams’ (JITs) reports on Lyari-based gangster Uzair Baloch and the Baldia factory fire case for the perusal of the court in camera.

The direction came on a petition seeking the unveiling of the JIT reports compiled after the investigators’ findings about Baloch, former Fishermen Cooperative Society chairman Dr Nisar Morai and the Baldia factory fire case.

The SHC’s division bench headed by Justice Mohammad Iqbal Kalhoro had inquired from the provincial law officer about the status of the JIT reports compiled after investigations into Baloch, Morai and the Baldia factory fire case, wanting to know if these reports are part of the prosecution’s case before a trial court.

Sindh Advocate General Salman Talibuddin informed the court that there were only two JIT reports pertaining to Baloch and Baldia factory fire case suspect Abdul Rehman, alias Bhola, which have been produced before the trial court in sealed condition. He said that so far these reports have not been made public.

He said that copies of the reports could be provided to the court in sealed condition for the perusal if the court wishes to examine them, and requested that the court dismiss the petition.

The assistant prosecutor general informed the court that the JIT report of the Morai case was not found in the police file or on judicial record. The JIT of the Morai case was headed by former Malir SSP Rao Anwar.

The court directed the advocate general to submit the JIT reports pertaining to the investigations into Baloch and the Baldia factory fire case in court for perusal in chamber on February 23.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Syed Ali Haider Zaidi, who is now a federal minister, had submitted in his petition that the JIT reports had made startling disclosures about the involvement of politicians in crimes such as murder and extortion.

He said the relevant authorities were approached to obtain copies of the reports and to make them public but to no avail.

The PTI leader said Baloch, tried by a military court under charges of espionage for Iranian intelligence agencies, had confessed to his affiliation with the Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) central leadership, including its women wing leader Faryal Talpur.

He said the gangster had admitted to paying Faryal the extortion money collected from different departments, adding that the man had also confessed to killing several people on the PPP leadership’s directives and to facilitating them in owning private properties after threatening their owners to vacate them.

Invoking the constitution’s Article 19-A (“Right to information”), Zaidi asserted that the provincial and federal governments’ failure to publish the JIT reports was a violation of the citizens’ fundamental rights.

He said the content of the JIT reports was of public importance because it related to crimes that had wide-reaching implications on the people at large.

To strengthen his party’s case, he said print and electronic media, through various sources, had reported on the JITs obtaining evidence that suggested the involvement of various politicians in criminal activities. “It is imperative that such people are held accountable for their actions.”

He argued that as long as the JIT reports were kept confidential, the public would be left at the mercy of corrupt politicians who continued to silently exercise the influence they had over them, whereas investigations launched against them would go nowhere.

The PTI leader said disclosure of the JIT reports was quite important because they carried allegations that the state machinery was being used to commit and cover up crimes. “People have the right to know if public resources were used for such activities.”

He said that the very purpose of constituting the JITs was to uncover the truth of the crimes they were to investigate, adding that the reason stood defeated if the reports were kept confidential.

He maintained that the JIT reports were required to be made public under the provisions of the Sindh Transparency & Right to Information Act. He said the families of the Lyari gang war’s victims and of those who perished in the Baldia fire and other crimes deserved justice.

Their heirs should know who the perpetrators of those crimes were, he added, and requested the court to publish and provide official copies of the reports prepared by the JITs in the cases.