Minister wants Sindh govt to implement SHC verdict on JIT reports

KARACHI: Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs Ali Zaidi on Saturday asked the Sindh chief secretary to ensure implementation of the Sindh High Court’s (SHC) Jan 28 verdict ordering the provincial authorities to make public JIT reports in high-profile cases.

In a letter to Mumtaz Ali Shah, the minister recalled the SHC had issued directives for the government to make public reports of joint investigation teams that investigated criminal charges against Lyari gangster Uzair Baloch, former chairman of Fishermen Cooperative Society Dr Nisar Morai and Baldia factory fire.

He requested the top provincial bureaucrat to provide him with a copy of these reports in line with the ruling.

Earlier, on Jan 28, the court ordered the Sindh government to make public the findings of the JITs and observed: “General public has the right to know about the findings of the JIT, which are public documents.”

“To know, subject to certain restrictions, is the fundamental right of a person and which shall be the prime concern in a democratic dispensation.”

The SHC division bench comprising Justice Mohammad Iqbal Kalhoro and Justice Shamsuddin Abbasi had given this verdict on a petition moved by the federal minister.