Mir Raza murder case: SHC reserves order on family's plea seeking JIT

The Sindh High Court (SHC) recently deferred its ruling on a request for a joint investigation team (JIT) in the Mir Raza Ali murder case. Ali, a 25-year-old businessman from Karachi, was discovered dead with a gunshot wound in Gulistan-i-Jauhar after being reported missing on July 28. Ali's family has expressed concerns about the investigation, claiming authorities are attempting to cover up the truth.

Last week, they filed a petition against a decision by the provincial government to establish a judicial commission to investigate, instead requesting the formation of a JIT. The two-member constitutional bench, presided over by Justice Adnan Karim Memon, heard the family's plea on Monday. The Sindh advocate general, prosecutor general, Karachi police surgeon, police officials, the investigating officer, Ali's family, and their lawyer Jibran Nasir presented their arguments.

Nasir reiterating his demand for a JIT, the court questioned the distinction between a JIT and a judicial commission. The state's lawyer explained that a JIT investigates a case from various perspectives, while a commission can offer assistance in the investigation. Nasir claimed that police personnel had destroyed evidence and spread false information through the media.

He alleged that no statements were recorded days after the case was registered and that the crime scene was "set on fire" to search for a bullet, similar to the washing of Benazir Bhutto's crime scene in 2007. Nasir also demanded departmental action against the police officers who tampered with the evidence, stating that the investigation team's job is to find suspects.

The Sindh advocate general informed the court that the commission's role is to investigate negligence in the investigation process. Nasir maintained that the Supreme Court has previously authorized forming a JIT in cases of administrative sabotage. He pointed out that the police had declared the case closed "even before Ali's grave was dug," referring to the exhumation of Ali's body for a second autopsy following the Karachi police surgeon's identification of issues in the initial post-mortem report.

When the court noted that the government had already formed a commission, Nasir argued that the commission would be supported by the same team that failed to locate the suspects despite a month of investigation. The Sindh AG clarified that the provincial government is not against the family. After the arguments, the court reserved its decision on the petition.