Daily Times

Sindh High Court (SHC)Sindh High Court (SHC), on Monday, lambasted the absence of Sindh Advocate General (AG) as he ignored an official summon related to the public release of the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) reports on high profile cases.

SHC Judge, Justice Muhammad Iqbal Kalhoro, heard the case about publicising the JIT reports of Lyari gang war kingbolt, Uzair Baloch; Baldia factory tragedy and former Fishermen’s Cooperative Society chairman, Nisar Morai.

Justice Kalhoro remarked that Sindh AG had not shown up even though the court had directed him to give arguments in the case.

The petitioner’s lawyer, meanwhile, pleaded the court to publicise the reports already finalised by investigators.

Observing that the verdict regarding JITs would be written, the high court again summoned Sindh AG. The case was adjourned till May 20.

On April 8, SHC had put off the hearing of a petition filed by Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs Ali Zaidi. The minister sought to make public Joint Investigation Team (JIT) reports on Uzair Baloch, Morai and the Baldia inferno case due to the absence of the petitioner’s lawyer.

In the previous hearing, the SHC had ruled that it would do so after a careful review of the JIT reports.

The petitioner had contended that over 250 people had lost their lives in the Baldia incident yet the JIT report was not made public.

The JIT reports of Uzair Baloch and Morai had also not been made publically available, he added.

The minister claimed that Morai had spilt the beans regarding the involvement of senior politicians in as many as seven murders during interrogation.

“It was the right of citizens to know about the suspects investigated during the JIT investigation,” he maintained.