Sindh AG interrupts Mir Raza commission proceedings during police surgeon's testimony, objects to family's queries

KARACHI: 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’ family asking any questions.

The interruption came during Karachi Police Surgeon Dr Summaiya Syed’s testimony.

The order issued after the commission’s proceedings stated: “It is regrettable that the commission’s proceedings have been interrupted by Sindh Advocate General Jawad Dero. He has objected to the family’s counsel asking any questions on behalf of the deceased’s family.

“The 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.”

The murder case has been mired in controversy, particularly after Dr Syed pointed out flaws in the findings of Ali’s first autopsy. Following that, Ali’s body was exhumed a second post-mortem was conducted.

Dr Syed was part of the medical board that conducted the second autopsy, whose findings ruled out the possibility of suicide — a likelihood around which the law enforcers had initially tried to build the case. Meanwhile, Ali’s family accused police of trying to bury the facts.

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 “for a transparent and impartial comprehensive investigation”.

The order cited a Dawn report dated Aug 9, according to which, it said, Talpur stressed that justice for Ali must be ensured and “public 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”.

Sindh Home Minister Lanjar and Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah had echoed these sentiments, the order stated.

Justice Sial further wrote in the order that he was saddened that the advocate general had objected to requests by Ali’s family through their counsel for certain clarification.

“It is the commission’s discretion to determine whether a query is relevant to the proceedings or not. Further, the commission’s terms of reference required it to find the true facts and circumstances of the case,” he said, adding that a notice was being issued to Lanjar to appear before the commission on Sept 10 and “put forward his stance […] as to whether the family is barred from asking questions to satisfy themselves that justice is being done”.

Justice Sial further stated, “In my opinion, a deliberate attempt has been made by the Sindh advocate general to restrain the commission from addressing the family’s queries in a transparent manner.”

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 “around 100 people” for staging a protest in connection with the case.

In the first information report (FIR), the protesters have been accused of blocking the road for vehicular movement and pedestrians at Karachi’s Sharea Faisal.

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.

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.

The court further directed that the investigation should be conducted strictly in accordance with the law and directed the petitioners to cooperate when required.

“It is clarified that this order shall not be construed as an impediment in conducting the investigation strictly in accordance with law,” the court said.

The case so far

The body of 25-year-old Ali was found in Karachi’s Gulistan-i-Jauhar last month, a day after he went missing on July 28.

Days after the recovery of Ali’s 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.

On August 6, a Karachi court took up an application by Ali’s 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’s body be conducted.

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.

While Dr Syed remained the convener of the new five-member board, its members were changed.

But Ali’s family rejected the new board, which also resulted in the deferment of the planned exhumation on Friday. Meanwhile, the counsel for Ali’s family, Nasir, accused the authorities of trying to bury the facts.

The Sindh government then restored the original medical board, following which Ali’s body was exhumed on August 8.

A day later, the Sindh inspector general of police’s (IG) office notified the reconstitution of the investigating team probing Ali’s death while Karachi Additional IG Azad Khan transferred the investigation into Ali’s murder to Zaman Town police station from Ferozabad Police Station, where the case was registered under charges of kidnapping.

The order for the probe team’s reconstitution also showed that a murder charge had been added to the first information report.

The same day, the Sindh government decided to seek a judicial commission for the case’s investigation, only to defer the plan a day later after Ali’s family said they had made no such demand and had faith in the new investigation team.

On Aug 19, Ali’s parents, Mir Hussain and Mariam Hussain, wrote to Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, seeking his “direct supervision of the murder investigation”. They also urged the chief minister to order an investigation and departmental inquiry into the previous investigation team and immediately suspend the officers involved.

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’s death.

However, soon after the announcement, the counsel for Ali’s family raised objections and later approached the Sindh High Court (SHC).

The petition was filed on August 24 in objection to the provincial government’s decision to form a judicial commission and sought the formation of an independent and multi-agency JIT “comprising officers who have had no previous involvement in the case” in place of the commission.

On Sept 2, the SHC dismissed a petition filed by Ali’s family, seeking the formation of a JIT to probe his murder, observing that constituting such a body was the “prerogative of the government”.

Meanwhile, the final report of Ali’s second post-mortem for the Mir Raza Ali murder case confirmed that his death was caused by a gunshot wound to the back.

“Death occurred due to cardiac rupture consequent to perforating firearm injury of the chest,” 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).

“The findings are inconsistent with suicide as the manner of death,” it confirmed.