Sindh High Court seeks answers on JIT probe into Mir Raza case

The development came a day after the Sindh Home Department notified the formation of a judicial commission to probe the death of the 25-year-old.

Justice Umar Sial was appointed its head following his nomination by the chief justice of the SHC.In its order, the constitutional bench raised several questions, including whether it could directly order the formation of a JIT and whether it had the authority to interfere in, alter or supervise an investigation and the submission of its report.

Read:Judicial commission formed to probe Mir Raza Ali’s death. The bench also questioned whether intervention was permissible under the Sindh Tribunals of Inquiry Ordinance, 1969, without a gazette notification. The petitioners alleged that investigators had failed to properly secure the crime scene and raised serious concerns over the conduct of the previous investigation team.

They subsequently sought the formation of a JIT comprising officers with no previous connection to the case for an independent and comprehensive probe. The court issued notices to all parties for the next hearing and directed them to assist the bench.

The next hearing has been fixed for August 31., a case concerning Ali's disappearance and death was registered at Ferozabad Police Station. The petitioners alleged that the investigation was compromised because the crime scene was not secured in time and witnesses' statements were not recorded promptly.

Read More:Police piece together final hours, death of Mir Raza Ali. They also alleged that electronic devices were not properly examined and that a suicide narrative was adopted and promoted prematurely. The petitioners claimed that significant changes were made to the medico-legal record and that the police surgeon had pointed out shortcomings in the initial post-mortem examination and recommended exhumation.

Petitioners' counsel, lawyer Jibran Nasir, submitted that a special medical board examined the body following exhumation and that its findings contradicted the initial suicide narrative., the final post-mortem and chemical examination reports ruled out the possibility of suicide.

Serious allegations were also levelled against members of the previous investigation team, but no action has so far been taken against them, the petitioners claimed. They also alleged mishandling or destruction of evidence and said their statements were recorded after considerable delay.

The petitioners further claimed that the current investigation team had failed to identify any suspect and had sought additional time on August 24 to submit the challan. They urged the court to order the formation of a JIT comprising officers who had no previous connection with the case to ensure an independent and comprehensive investigation.

Earlier, the. Sindh government had requestedthe chief justice of the SHC to constitute a judicial commission to investigate the murder, 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.

The commission had been constituted at the request of the provincial government, even as Ali’s family had challenged the move before the SHC and sought a JIT to probe his murder., issued under the Sindh Tribunals of Inquiry Ordinance, 1969, the commission had been assigned four key terms of reference.

It would determine the circumstances and motives surrounding Ali’s death, assess whether the investigation had been impartial and examine whether any police officer or other official was negligent or involved in concealing evidence. The commission would also recommend further investigation, forensic analysis and legal action, where necessary.