SHC issues notice on bail plea in Baldia factory fire case

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) issued on Monday a notice to the special public prosecutor on a bail application filed by a suspect nominated in the 2012 Baldia factory fire case in which 259 workers were killed.

A two-judge bench, headed by Justice Sadiq Hussain Bhatti, directed the prosecutor to file comments on the bail plea of Zubair alias Lala alias Chariya by the next date of the hearing, to be later notified by the office.

Zubair had approached the court against the dismissal of his bail application by the concerned anti-terrorism court where the trial against Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leaders Hammad Siddiqui, Abdul Rauf Siddiqui, Abdul Rehman, alias Bhola and others is pending in the factory fire case.

A joint investigation team had found that a man, Zubair, supporter of the MQM who ran the finishing department at the ill-fated Ali Enterprises, came on the day of incident to the factory accompanied by Waseem Dehelvi and four others.

An accountant at the factory, Muhammad Arshad, testified that he saw Zubair handing out black shopping bags to the men accompanying him. Zubair was the first to toss a bag to the side of the warehouse and the rest followed course and threw their bags in different directions. The fire erupted within a short period of time, Arshad said.

Zubair’s lawyer, Advocate Muhammad Tamaz Khan, argued that the trial court had rejected his client’s bail plea without considering the facts on record. He pleaded to the court to set aside the trial court’s bail rejection order and grant bail to Zubair.

In the hearing on May 29, the court had issued a notice to the special public prosecutor, Sajid Mehboob Sheikh, to file comments but he was absent during the hearing on Monday. The bench again issued a notice to him to file comments by the next date of the hearing.

Source: The Express Tribune