Mir Raza Ali murder case: Judicial Commission calls parties for key hearing
The commission is reviewing the investigation into the 25-year-old Karachi businessman’s death. Justice Omar Sial, who heads the commission, issued the notices, according to its spokesperson. Notices were sent to Ali’s family, the Sindh government’s focal person and the family’s lawyer, Advocate Jibran Nasir.
Family seeks different investigation
Ali went missing from his home in PECHS on July 28. His body was found the next day in bushes in a hilly area opposite the University of Karachi in Gulistan-i-Jauhar with a gunshot wound.
Ferozabad police registered a case on a complaint from Ali’s father, Mir Husain Ali. The FIR initially included Sections 365, 302 and 201 of the Pakistan Penal Code.
Family challenges commission
The Sindh government later decided to establish a judicial commission to examine whether the investigation was impartial and followed the law. Ali’s family opposed the decision and approached the Sindh High Court.
The family asked the court to cancel the judicial commission and form an “independent, impartial and multi-agency JIT” instead. The proposed team would include representatives from Sindh Police, Rangers, FIA, IB, ISI and military intelligence.
The family also requested a fresh investigation into what it described as the “abduction, torture and murder” of Ali. The petition named 19 respondents, including the Sindh government, Home Department and senior police officials.
Dispute over cause of death
Ali’s family has maintained that he was kidnapped, tortured and murdered. Police initially investigated the possibility that he had died by suicide.
A second post-mortem later found multiple injuries and a gunshot wound to his back, after which a murder charge was added to the FIR. The second examination followed a dispute over alleged gaps in the first medico-legal report.
A judicial magistrate approved the exhumation of Ali’s body on August 6. The Sindh Health Department then formed a medical board, which was later changed before the original board was restored.
Ali’s family initially rejected the reconstituted board, leading to a delay in the planned exhumation. The original medical board was later restored, and Ali’s body was exhumed on August 8.
The latest notices show that the judicial commission has formally started its proceedings. The Friday hearing could provide more clarity about the next steps in the investigation.
The case has faced disagreements over the investigation and medical findings from the beginning. The family’s demand for a separate JIT also shows that questions about the earlier probe remain unresolved.
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