ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Wednesday overturned the convictions of two Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) workers — Abdul Rehman alias Bhola and Zubair alias Chariya — for their alleged involvement in the deadly 2012 Baldia factory fire in Karachi.
Over 260 workers, including 16 who could not be identified, were burnt alive when the multi-storey Ali Enterprises garment factory was set on fire in Baldia Town on Sept 11, 2012, in what became the deadliest industrial blaze in Pakistan’s history.
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Wednesday overturned the convictions of two Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) workers — Abdul Rehman alias Bhola and Zubair alias Chariya — for their alleged involvement in the deadly 2012 Baldia factory fire in Karachi.
Over 260 workers, including 16 who could not be identified, were burnt alive when the multi-storey Ali Enterprises garment factory was set on fire in Baldia Town on Sept 11, 2012, in what became the deadliest industrial blaze in Pakistan’s history.
On Wednesday, a three-judge SC bench, headed by Justice Malik Shahzad Ahmed and including Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi and Justice Shakeel Ahmad, set aside the death sentences awarded to the two accused by an anti-terrorism court (ATC) on charges of murder, extortion, arson and terrorism, granting them the benefit of the doubt.
Abdul Rehman alias Bhola, a former sector in-charge in the party’s organisational structure, and Zubair alias Chariya were sentenced to death in September 2020 for allegedly setting the multi-storey Ali Enterprises garment factory on fire in Baldia Town.
It should be mentioned that in 2023, the Sindh High Court (SHC) had upheld the death penalty handed down to the two workers and also set aside the life term of four employees of the factory. Later, both the convicts had challenged the verdict in the SC.
The SHC had also dismissed an appeal filed by the state challenging the acquittal of then provincial minister for commerce and industries Rauf Siddiqui and three others by the ATC in the same case.
While accepting the appeals of the two accused on Wednesday, the SC indicated that a detailed judgment will be issued later and rejected a request to implead relatives of the deceased as parties in the case, remarking that if the court makes them parties in the matter, 200 more applications may come tomorrow.
Justice Shahzad also ruled that the application to expunge the remarks made by the lower courts related to MQM had become ineffective since their decisions had been declared null and void.
During the hearing, Justice Shahzad said that there was a confessional statement from Zubair alias Chariya but not from the co-accused Abdul Rehman alias Bhola.
“Had there been a demand of extortion by MQM, why was the acquittal of other co-accused (in the case) not challenged?” he inquired.
Appearing on behalf of the petitioners, senior counsel Farogh Naseem argued that the petitioners were innocent and falsely implicated by the police in the case, since the two were never named in the FIR but implicated based on a 2015 Joint Investigation Team (JIT) constituted by the Sindh government — a report which he argued was neither legally admissible as evidence nor can be relied for awarding a death sentence or even life imprisonment.
The counsel reminded that it was a settled law that the benefit of doubt has to be resolved in favour of the accused, when the SHC had already extended the benefit of the doubt to other co-accused.
He further argued that the accused were implicated more than two and a half years after the incident, which he said otherwise proved that the prosecution witnesses were concocted.
The counsel also recalled that three gates of the Ali Enterprises Garment Factory were locked on the alleged orders of the factory owner, Abdul Aziz Bhaila, sometime before the incident.
He further argued that the sons of the owner, namely Arshad Bhaila and Shahid Bhaila, as well as the administration of the three-storey factory building, had not made adequate arrangements for emergency exits for the factory workers.
The counsel said that the iron grills were fixed on the windows due to which workers failed to escape.
The counsel further contended that the JIT was constituted by the Sindh government based on information provided by one Mohammad Rizwan Qureshi.
The appeals contended that Qureshi was never produced or cited as a witness nor made an accused by the prosecution to prove the contents of the JIT, which was recorded nine months after the incident.
It was claimed in the appeals that there was no evidence against the petitioners for the demand of “bhattaa” (extortion), which according to the prosecution was made in July, 2012, while the incident happened in September that year.
Neither were CCTV recordings produced, nor was the specific witness examined to corroborate the allegation of bhattaa from the factory owners, the appeals argued, adding the prosecution had been silent in this respect till 2013 when Qureshi was arrested.
The appeals contended that from the date of occurrence till 2015, the police/factory owners made no complaint nor registered a case for the alleged bhattaa.
The petitions also pleaded that the prosecution had failed to bring on record a report issued by Karachi University’s Science Laboratory to establish that the blaze resulted from a chemical substance.
On Wednesday, a three-judge SC bench, headed by Justice Malik Shahzad Ahmed and including Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi and Justice Shakeel Ahmad, set aside the death sentences awarded to the two accused by an anti-terrorism court (ATC) on charges of murder, extortion, arson and terrorism, granting them the benefit of the doubt.
Abdul Rehman alias Bhola, a former sector in-charge in the party’s organisational structure, and Zubair alias Chariya were sentenced to death in September 2020 for allegedly setting the multi-storey Ali Enterprises garment factory on fire in Baldia Town.
It should be mentioned that in 2023, the Sindh High Court (SHC) had upheld the death penalty handed down to the two workers and also set aside the life term of four employees of the factory. Later, both the convicts had challenged the verdict in the SC.
The SHC had also dismissed an appeal filed by the state challenging the acquittal of then provincial minister for commerce and industries Rauf Siddiqui and three others by the ATC in the same case.
While accepting the appeals of the two accused on Wednesday, the SC indicated that a detailed judgment will be issued later and rejected a request to implead relatives of the deceased as parties in the case, remarking that if the court makes them parties in the matter, 200 more applications may come tomorrow.
Justice Shahzad also ruled that the application to expunge the remarks made by the lower courts related to MQM had become ineffective since their decisions had been declared null and void.
During the hearing, Justice Shahzad said that there was a confessional statement from Zubair alias Chariya but not from the co-accused Abdul Rehman alias Bhola.
“Had there been a demand of extortion by MQM, why was the acquittal of other co-accused (in the case) not challenged?” he inquired.
Appearing on behalf of the petitioners, senior counsel Farogh Naseem argued that the petitioners were innocent and falsely implicated by the police in the case, since the two were never named in the FIR but implicated based on a 2015 Joint Investigation Team (JIT) constituted by the Sindh government — a report which he argued was neither legally admissible as evidence nor can be relied for awarding a death sentence or even life imprisonment.
The counsel reminded that it was a settled law that the benefit of doubt has to be resolved in favour of the accused, when the SHC had already extended the benefit of the doubt to other co-accused.
He further argued that the accused were implicated more than two and a half years after the incident, which he said otherwise proved that the prosecution witnesses were concocted.
The counsel also recalled that three gates of the Ali Enterprises Garment Factory were locked on the alleged orders of the factory owner, Abdul Aziz Bhaila, sometime before the incident.
He further argued that the sons of the owner, namely Arshad Bhaila and Shahid Bhaila, as well as the administration of the three-storey factory building, had not made adequate arrangements for emergency exits for the factory workers.
The counsel said that the iron grills were fixed on the windows due to which workers failed to escape.
The counsel further contended that the JIT was constituted by the Sindh government based on information provided by one Mohammad Rizwan Qureshi.
The appeals contended that Qureshi was never produced or cited as a witness nor made an accused by the prosecution to prove the contents of the JIT, which was recorded nine months after the incident.
It was claimed in the appeals that there was no evidence against the petitioners for the demand of “bhattaa” (extortion), which according to the prosecution was made in July, 2012, while the incident happened in September that year.
Neither were CCTV recordings produced, nor was the specific witness examined to corroborate the allegation of bhattaa from the factory owners, the appeals argued, adding the prosecution had been silent in this respect till 2013 when Qureshi was arrested.
The appeals contended that from the date of occurrence till 2015, the police/factory owners made no complaint nor registered a case for the alleged bhattaa.
The petitions also pleaded that the prosecution had failed to bring on record a report issued by Karachi University’s Science Laboratory to establish that the blaze resulted from a chemical substance.
On Wednesday, a three-judge SC bench, headed by Justice Malik Shahzad Ahmed and including Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi and Justice Shakeel Ahmad, set aside the death sentences awarded to the two accused by an anti-terrorism court (ATC) on charges of murder, extortion, arson and terrorism, granting them the benefit of the doubt.
Abdul Rehman alias Bhola, a former sector in-charge in the party’s organisational structure, and Zubair alias Chariya were sentenced to death in September 2020 for allegedly setting the multi-storey Ali Enterprises garment factory on fire in Baldia Town.
On Wednesday, a three-judge SC bench, headed by Justice Malik Shahzad Ahmed and including Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi and Justice Shakeel Ahmad, set aside the death sentences awarded to the two accused by an anti-terrorism court (ATC) on charges of murder, extortion, arson and terrorism, granting them the benefit of the doubt.
Abdul Rehman alias Bhola, a former sector in-charge in the party’s organisational structure, and Zubair alias Chariya were sentenced to death in September 2020 for allegedly setting the multi-storey Ali Enterprises garment factory on fire in Baldia Town.
It should be mentioned that in 2023, the Sindh High Court (SHC) had upheld the death penalty handed down to the two workers and also set aside the life term of four employees of the factory. Later, both the convicts had challenged the verdict in the SC.
The SHC had also dismissed an appeal filed by the state challenging the acquittal of then provincial minister for commerce and industries Rauf Siddiqui and three others by the ATC in the same case.
While accepting the appeals of the two accused on Wednesday, the SC indicated that a detailed judgment will be issued later and rejected a request to implead relatives of the deceased as parties in the case, remarking that if the court makes them parties in the matter, 200 more applications may come tomorrow.
Justice Shahzad also ruled that the application to expunge the remarks made by the lower courts related to MQM had become ineffective since their decisions had been declared null and void.
During the hearing, Justice Shahzad said that there was a confessional statement from Zubair alias Chariya but not from the co-accused Abdul Rehman alias Bhola.
“Had there been a demand of extortion by MQM, why was the acquittal of other co-accused (in the case) not challenged?” he inquired.
Appearing on behalf of the petitioners, senior counsel Farogh Naseem argued that the petitioners were innocent and falsely implicated by the police in the case, since the two were never named in the FIR but implicated based on a 2015 Joint Investigation Team (JIT) constituted by the Sindh government — a report which he argued was neither legally admissible as evidence nor can be relied for awarding a death sentence or even life imprisonment.
The counsel reminded that it was a settled law that the benefit of doubt has to be resolved in favour of the accused, when the SHC had already extended the benefit of the doubt to other co-accused.
He further argued that the accused were implicated more than two and a half years after the incident, which he said otherwise proved that the prosecution witnesses were concocted.
The counsel also recalled that three gates of the Ali Enterprises Garment Factory were locked on the alleged orders of the factory owner, Abdul Aziz Bhaila, sometime before the incident.
He further argued that the sons of the owner, namely Arshad Bhaila and Shahid Bhaila, as well as the administration of the three-storey factory building, had not made adequate arrangements for emergency exits for the factory workers.
The counsel said that the iron grills were fixed on the windows due to which workers failed to escape.
The counsel further contended that the JIT was constituted by the Sindh government based on information provided by one Mohammad Rizwan Qureshi.
The appeals contended that Qureshi was never produced or cited as a witness nor made an accused by the prosecution to prove the contents of the JIT, which was recorded nine months after the incident.
It was claimed in the appeals that there was no evidence against the petitioners for the demand of “bhattaa” (extortion), which according to the prosecution was made in July, 2012, while the incident happened in September that year.
Neither were CCTV recordings produced, nor was the specific witness examined to corroborate the allegation of bhattaa from the factory owners, the appeals argued, adding the prosecution had been silent in this respect till 2013 when Qureshi was arrested.
The appeals contended that from the date of occurrence till 2015, the police/factory owners made no complaint nor registered a case for the alleged bhattaa.
The petitions also pleaded that the prosecution had failed to bring on record a report issued by Karachi University’s Science Laboratory to establish that the blaze resulted from a chemical substance.