KARACHI(National Times)- A judicial commission formed to probe the circumstances and possible negligence around the Mir Raza Ali murder case issued a notice to Sindh Home Minister Ziaul Hassan Lanjar after the Sindh Advocate General Jawad Dero interrupted the proceedings on Tuesday and objected to the lawyer representing the victims\u2019 family asking any questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The interruption came during Karachi Police Surgeon Dr Summaiya Syed\u2019s testimony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The order issued after the commission\u2019s proceedings stated: \u201cIt is regrettable that the commission\u2019s proceedings have been interrupted by Sindh Advocate General Jawad Dero. He has objected to the family\u2019s counsel asking any questions on behalf of the deceased\u2019s family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe highest law officer of the Sindh government making such a submission surprised me. It is more meaningful that the disturbance comes at a time when the police surgeon was explaining the role of senior police officers during the post-mortem examination.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The murder case has been mired in controversy, particularly after Dr Syed pointed out flaws in the findings of Ali\u2019s first autopsy. Following that, Ali\u2019s body was exhumed a second post-mortem was conducted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dr Syed was part of the medical board that conducted the second autopsy, whose findings ruled out the possibility of suicide \u2014 a likelihood around which the law enforcers had initially tried to build the case. Meanwhile, Ali\u2019s family accused police of trying to bury the facts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The one-member commission, headed by Sindh High Court Justice Omar Sial, heard the case today and noted in its order that Sindh Assembly member Faryal Talpur had suggested its formation to the provincial chief executive \u201cfor a transparent and impartial comprehensive investigation\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The order cited a Dawn report dated Aug 9, according to which, it said, Talpur stressed that justice for Ali must be ensured and \u201cpublic should be transparently informed of all facts surrounding the case. The newspaper further cites her as saying that providing justice to the bereaved family and maintaining public confidence in the justice system was the fundamental responsibility of the government and relevant institutions\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sindh Home Minister Lanjar and Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah had echoed these sentiments, the order stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Justice Sial further wrote in the order that he was saddened that the advocate general had objected to requests by Ali\u2019s family through their counsel for certain clarification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt is the commission\u2019s discretion to determine whether a query is relevant to the proceedings or not. Further, the commission\u2019s terms of reference required it to find the true facts and circumstances of the case,\u201d he said, adding that a notice was being issued to Lanjar to appear before the commission on Sept 10 and \u201cput forward his stance [\u2026] as to whether the family is barred from asking questions to satisfy themselves that justice is being done\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Justice Sial further stated, \u201cIn my opinion, a deliberate attempt has been made by the Sindh advocate general to restrain the commission from addressing the family\u2019s queries in a transparent manner.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Plea against FIR
In a separate development, a two-member bench of the SHC, headed by Justice Muhammad Saleem Jessar and including Justice Abdul Hamid Bhurgri, took up a petition seeking the quashing of a case registered on August 27 against \u201caround 100 people\u201d for staging a protest in connection with the case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the first information report (FIR), the protesters have been accused of blocking the road for vehicular movement and pedestrians at Karachi\u2019s Sharea Faisal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The plea, a copy of which is available with Dawn, named Ammar Ahmed Khan, Muhammad Zubai Ali, Taha Shaikh, Zarar Khalid, Saad Shehriyar, and Hassan Surya as the petitioners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The SHC issued notices to the Sindh advocate general, the prosecutor general and other respondents for Nov 11 after hearing the plea today, directing that in the meantime, no coercive action should be taken against the petitioners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The court further directed that the investigation should be conducted strictly in accordance with the law and directed the petitioners to cooperate when required.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt is clarified that this order shall not be construed as an impediment in conducting the investigation strictly in accordance with law,\u201d the court said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The case so far
The body of 25-year-old Ali was found in Karachi\u2019s Gulistan-i-Jauhar last month, a day after he went missing on July 28.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Days after the recovery of Ali\u2019s body on July 29, Dr Syed had told Geo News that the post-mortem findings in the case had raised several questions, as some observations in the report did not appear to match the available photographs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On August 6, a Karachi court took up an application by Ali\u2019s father, allowed the exhumation of his body, ordered the formation of a medico-legal board for the purpose and directed that a second autopsy of Ali\u2019s body be conducted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Sindh health department then constituted an eight-member board, with police surgeon Dr Syed as the convener. However, in the early hours of August 7, the board was reconstituted through an order issued by the director general of the Sindh health department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While Dr Syed remained the convener of the new five-member board, its members were changed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But Ali\u2019s family rejected the new board, which also resulted in the deferment of the planned exhumation on Friday. Meanwhile, the counsel for Ali\u2019s family, Nasir, accused the authorities of trying to bury the facts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Sindh government then restored the original medical board, following which Ali\u2019s body was exhumed on August 8.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A day later, the Sindh inspector general of police\u2019s (IG) office notified the reconstitution of the investigating team probing Ali\u2019s death while Karachi Additional IG Azad Khan transferred the investigation into Ali\u2019s murder to Zaman Town police station from Ferozabad Police Station, where the case was registered under charges of kidnapping.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The order for the probe team\u2019s reconstitution also showed that a murder charge had been added to the first information report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The same day, the Sindh government decided to seek a judicial commission for the case\u2019s investigation, only to defer the plan a day later after Ali\u2019s family said they had made no such demand and had faith in the new investigation team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Aug 19, Ali\u2019s parents, Mir Hussain and Mariam Hussain, wrote to Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, seeking his \u201cdirect supervision of the murder investigation\u201d. They also urged the chief minister to order an investigation and departmental inquiry into the previous investigation team and immediately suspend the officers involved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The provincial government acknowledged the letter and announced the decision on Aug 23 to form a judicial commission to determine whether the investigation in the case was being conducted impartially and to investigate the circumstances surrounding Ali\u2019s death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, soon after the announcement, the counsel for Ali\u2019s family raised objections and later approached the Sindh High Court (SHC).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The petition was filed on August 24 in objection to the provincial government\u2019s decision to form a judicial commission and sought the formation of an independent and multi-agency JIT \u201ccomprising officers who have had no previous involvement in the case\u201d in place of the commission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Sept 2, the SHC dismissed a petition filed by Ali\u2019s family, seeking the formation of a JIT to probe his murder, observing that constituting such a body was the \u201cprerogative of the government\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, the final report of Ali\u2019s second post-mortem for the Mir Raza Ali murder case confirmed that his death was caused by a gunshot wound to the back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDeath occurred due to cardiac rupture consequent to perforating firearm injury of the chest,\u201d the report stated, adding that the entry wound was on the posterior thorax (back) and the exit wound on the anterior thorax (front of the chest).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe findings are inconsistent with suicide as the manner of death,\u201d it confirmed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
KARACHI(National Times)- A judicial commission formed to probe the circumstances and possible negligence around the Mir Raza Ali murder case issued a notice to Sindh Home Minister Ziaul Hassan Lanjar after the Sindh Advocate General Jawad Dero interrupted the proceedings on Tuesday and objected to the lawyer representing the victims\u2019 family asking any questions. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":132744,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-132743","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest_news","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n