SHC forms judicial commission as family seeks JIT to probe case

The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Monday constituted a judicial commission to investigate the Mir Raza Ali murder case at the request of the Sindh government, while his family approached the court opposing the commission and seeking a probe through a Joint Investigation Team (JIT).

A day earlier, the Sindh government had requested the chief justice of the SHC to constitute a judicial commission to investigate the murder of Ali, saying that the provincial government had taken the concerns raised by Ali’s family “extremely seriously” and that a letter sent by the family to the chief minister had been received.

According to a letter issued by the SHC Deputy Registrar Abbas Mehdi to the Sindh Home Department secretary regarding the formation of a judicial commission today, “the chief justice of the SHC has nominated Justice Umar Sial as the head of the judicial commission. Justice Umar Sial will lead the commission investigating the case.”

Earlier in the day, opposing the formation of the judicial commission and seeking an investigation into the case through a JIT, Ali’s family approached the SHC.

Justice Adnan-ul-Karim Memon heard the petition filed by Ali’s family; later the court issued notices to all parties for August 31 and sought their responses by the next hearing.

In their petition, Ali’s family has made 19 individuals, along with various Sindh government institutions, respondents. Dr Usama and Dr Samia, who conducted Ali’s post-mortem, have also been made respondents.

Members of the team investigating the case have also been named as respondents.

Petitioner’s lawyer Jibran Nasir said that the police investigation had so far failed to reach any conclusion. He said they learned through the media that the Sindh government was planning to constitute a judicial commission to investigate the case.

“At this stage, the formation of a judicial commission will negatively affect the case,” Jibran Nasir said.

Read: Govt seeks judicial probe into Mir Raza’s death

He further said that the findings of a judicial commission’s inquiry cannot be presented before a court as a charge sheet.

Meanwhile, the court has also restrained the investigation team from submitting the final charge sheet.

The court also sought the Terms of Reference (TOR) of the judicial commission and asked what specific terms and conditions the commission would operate under.

Family rejects judicial commission

A day earlier, Ali’s family rejected the Sindh government’s decision on the formation of a judicial commission, saying it was neither consulted nor informed about the proposed judicial commission.

Ali’s father, Mir Hassan, told The Express Tribune that he did not have confidence in the [government’s] move and would approach the SHC to seek the constitution of a JIT to probe his son’s death.

Read more: Police piece together final hours, death of Mir Raza Ali

In a video message uploaded to social media yesterday, Ali’s sister said the family learnt of the decision through the media and had not been informed of the TOR or the grounds for constituting the commission.

The family’s legal counsel in the case also questioned the timing of the judicial commission, asking if the Sindh government knew the outcome of the police report scheduled for submission before the magistrate today and disagreed with it.

He said the family would approach the SHC to form a JIT, adding that, “Forming a judicial commission without informing the family of Ali nor making the TOR of the inquiry public. Why other LEAs not engaged & JIT formed? Why criminal conduct of police officers not investigated? Tomorrow, the family will move the high court for a JIT & oppose judicial commission.”

The case

Ali, 25, was allegedly kidnapped from PECHS before his body was found in bushes near a wedding hall in Gulistan-e-Johar on July 29. The case had initially been surrounded by uncertainty over whether he had been murdered or died by suicide.

However, the findings of the second post-mortem consolidated his family’s longstanding claim that he had been murdered. The police probe is facing constant scrutiny by the public because of earlier lapses that were also admitted by the Sindh Police chief.