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Thursday March 28, 2024

Chief secy put on notice on contempt plea for not making Uzair Baloch, Baldia factory fire JIT reports public

By Jamal Khurshid
June 05, 2020

The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Thursday issued notices to the chief secretary on a contempt-of-court application filed against the Sindh government for not making public the findings of the joint investigation teams (JITs) that investigated the organised crime syndicate run by Lyari gangster Uzair Baloch, charges against former chairman of Fishermen Cooperative Society Dr Nisar Morai and the Baldia factory fire incident despite the court order.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MNA and Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs Ali Haider Zaidi had filed the contempt application before the SHC against the Sindh government for not making public the JIT findings related to Uzair, Dr Morai and the Baldia factory fire.

A counsel for the applicant submitted that the Sindh government had not complied with the order of the SHC despite the lapse of more than four months. He requested the high court to direct the Sindh government to comply with the court orders and initiate contempt of court proceedings against the chief secretary. A division bench of the SHC headed by Justice Mohammad Iqbal Kalhoro issued notices to the chief secretary and others and called their comments by June 23.

It is pertinent to mention that the SHC on January 28 had directed the Sindh government to make public the findings of the three JITs and observed that the “general public has the right to know about the findings of the JIT, which are public documents”.

Delivering a landmark judgment on the public right to information guaranteed under the Article 19-A of the Constitution, a division bench of the SHC comprising Justice Mohammad Iqbal Kalhoro and Justice Shamsuddin Abbasi had observed that to know, subject to certain restrictions, is the fundamental right of a person and which shall be the prime concern in a democratic dispensation.

The high court had observed that it had gone through the JIT reports of Uzair and Baldia factory fire and had not found anything "contrary to the national security" in those reports.

The SHC had remarked that if such reports were publicised, particularly when most of the facts of such cases had already been brought to the knowledge of public through different mediums, including the print and electronic media, no prejudice would be caused to either party at the trials.

"If such incidents, which are barbaric in nature, happen and the public is deprived of access to the information qua the outcome of investigations conducted by the JITs in regard of such incidents, it would mean that the democratic government is not interested in telling the truth about those who are involved, which will result in weakening of the whole system," the court had observed.

The bench had observed that points which need to be noted included whether a gruesome incident like the Baldia factory fire resulting in the deaths of 259 people and injuring about 600 persons could be tolerated in a civilised society and whether it would be justified to deprive the families of the deceased and injured from knowing the outcome of the JIT investigations. The same argument went for investigations into the affairs of Uzair and Dr Morai.

The high court had observed that no one could deny that it was the right of every citizen to know the findings of JITs. The court had held that there appeared to be no dispute that the JIT reports fell within the meaning of public documents as envisaged under the Article 85 of the Qanoon-e-Shahadat Order 1984.

The high court had held that the provisions of the Qanoon-e-Shahadat read with the Sindh Transparency and Right to Information Act, 2016, proved that the general public had a right to know the JIT findings which were public documents. The court had observed that every person had a right to seek information relating to any issue of public importance unless restricted by the relevant regulations. According to the SHC, nothing had been stated or pointed out in the instant matter restricting the petitioner’s right to seek information.

Zaidi had submitted in the petition that startling disclosures were made in the JIT reports about the involvement of politicians in several killings and extortion cases. The relevant authorities were approached for copies of the reports to make them public, but to no avail, the PTI official had stated. Uzair, tried by a military court under charges of espionage for Iranian intelligence agencies, had confessed to his association with the Pakistan Peoples Party’s central leadership, including its women’s wing leader Faryal Talpur, Zaidi had claimed.

He added that Uzair admitted to paying extortion amounts received from different departments to Faryal. Besides, he also confessed to killing several people on the directives of the political party’s leadership and forcibly taking over private land and properties by threatening their owners.

Invoking the Article 19-A of the Constitution, the PTI leader had asserted that the provincial and federal governments' failure to publish such JIT reports was a violation of the citizens’ right to information.