KARACHI: The judicial commission formed to investigate the circumstances and possible negligence surrounding the murder of Mir Raza Ali is set to resume proceedings from Monday after the Sindh home minister assured it that the provincial government has complete sup-port for a transparent inquiry.
Home Minister Zia-ul-Hasan Lanjar also tendered an unconditional apology before the one-member commission headed by Justice Omar Sial of the Sindh High Court as the Sindh advocate general (AG) had attempted to interrupt its proceedings on Sept8.
He further informed the commission that it was neither the government’s instruction to ask the commission how to run its proceedings nor was there any intention to cause any impediment to the answering of the aggrieved family’s questions.
At the last hearing, the commission had aborted the proceedings and summoned the home minister after AG Jawad Dero had objected to the lawyerfor the aggrieved family asking questions during the testimony of the police surgeon.
When the commission took up the matter on Thursday, the home minister was inattendance,andhetenderedanunconditional apology over the ‘misunderstanding’ that occurred at the last hearing.
Justice sial remarked that the concerns and suspicions of the victim’s family needed to be taken into consideration since the parents had very little confidence in the investigation.
He also said, ‘Our effort is to restore their confidence through the commission and bring the facts of the case to light, and the family had been allowed to ask questions through their lawyer’.Criticising the AG Sindh for his intervention during the previous hearing, Justice Sial further stated that it had added fuel to the fire and was very humiliating for him.
He said the commission wanted to know whether the provincial government’s stance remained the same as expressed by Sindh Assembly Standing Committee on Home’s Chairperson Faryal Talpur and others when the judicial commission was established.
Apologising to the commission, the home minister affirmed that the government wanted justice to be delivered to everyone and, as the home minister, he was saddened by the loss suffered by the family and, as a father, he understood their grief.
Recalling that Ms Talpur had sought the formation of a judicial commission, the minister also said that the Sindh government would provide whatever support was needed by the family.
‘We do not want to interfere in the commission’s proceedings, and the commission could conduct the inquiry in whatever manner it deemed appropriate’, he assured the commission.
The commission in its order said that the home minister had strongly reiterated the provincial government’s vision to ensure a fair, free and transpar-ent inquiry.
‘He very gracefully said that a misunderstanding took place at the previous hearing and that it was not the government’s instruction that the commission be told how to run its proceedings nor that any impediment be caused in answering the family’s questions’, it added.
The commission also stated that it was grateful to Mr Lanjar for promptly responding to the commission’s notice and most gracefully assuring the commission and public at large of government’s uninterrupted, continuous and complete co-operationin the proceedings.
It further said that the counsel for the aggrieved family, Jibran Nasir, had also requested the commission to place on record their appreciation for what the minister had saidand clarified. ‘The controversy thus stands amicably resolved’, the commission added.
Thereafter, it stated that the commission would resume its proceedings from Monday (Sept 14) and issued notices to Police Surgeon Dr Summaya Syed, who had testified for around two hours at the last hearing when the interruption came and would again appear to complete her testimony, SHO Ferozabad Adeel Afzal and Head Moharir Gulistan-i-Jauhar police station Zeeshan Haider for Monday.
The commission also received a reply from Medico-Legal Officer (MLO) Dr Osama Sheikh, who had conducted the first post-mortem examination, to a show-cause notice issued over his demeanour towards a journalist.However, it found the MLO’s response unsatisfactory and directed him to appear before the commission on Sept 15 to explain his response.
After the hearing, the home minister told media persons that he had appeared before the commission and tendered an unconditional apology over the misunderstanding.
He was of the view that the Sindh government wanted the victim’s family to be provided justice and termed the conclusion of the commission’s proceedings necessary for the facts to emerge. ‘I also said before the commission today that whoever is found involved in this will be brought to justice,’ the minister added.
Meanwhile, the commission’s registrar Abdul Majid said that he had received messages andemails from citizens claiming to have information which could help in the investigation of the case.
One of them offered to assist the commission regarding the victim’s Binance accounts, which, according to the police, Raza had been using for the pastfouryears.
The registrar also stated that another citizen shared information regarding the deceased’s digital footprints, which would be shared with the investigation team.
One informant pointed towards a ‘suspicious individual’ calling for him to be investigated, while another person offered information related to the victim’s iCloud login, he added.
Mr Majid assured the public that the identities of those reaching out to the commission would be kept confidential.