Sindh Seeks Judicial Commission in Mir Raza Ali Murder Probe
The Sindh government has decided to ask the chief justice of the Sindh High Court to establish a judicial commission to examine the investigation into the killing of 25-year-old businessman Mir Raza Ali. The latest move, announced on Sunday in Karachi, has immediately drawn opposition from Ali’s family, whose lawyer says they intend to approach the high court and seek a joint investigation team instead.
According to the provincial government, the proposed commission would assess whether the murder investigation has been conducted fairly, independently and in accordance with the law. Its mandate would extend to identifying evidence or investigative angles requiring further examination and determining whether police officers, medico-legal personnel or other officials were responsible for negligence, misconduct, suppression of evidence or any unlawful interference with the case.
The Sindh chief minister’s office said the decision followed concerns formally raised by Ali’s parents. The proposed commission would be empowered under the Sindh Tribunals of Inquiry Ordinance, 1969, allowing it to summon witnesses, record testimony and obtain official documents and records. Provincial departments and agencies have been instructed to cooperate, while the Home Department is expected to provide administrative support. The commission would be asked to submit its findings and recommendations within 30 days of being constituted, subject to an extension if required.
Ali’s family, however, has questioned the decision to pursue a judicial commission. Their counsel, Jibran Nasir, said the family planned to move the Sindh High Court on Monday to request the formation of a joint investigation team and oppose the commission. He raised concerns over why other law-enforcement agencies had not been brought into the investigation and questioned the timing of the government’s announcement while the police investigation process was still under scrutiny.
Ali, an Institute of Business Administration graduate and business owner, was reported missing before his body was discovered on July 29 in bushes in Karachi’s Gulistan-i-Jauhar. He had suffered a gunshot wound. His family maintained from the beginning that he had been abducted, tortured and murdered, while investigators initially examined the possibility that his death was a suicide.
The direction of the case changed after Ali’s body was exhumed and a second post-mortem examination was carried out. The subsequent findings showed multiple injuries and indicated that he had been shot in the back, undermining the earlier suicide theory. Police later added a murder charge to the case. The handling of the medico-legal process had already become controversial following disagreements over the first post-mortem report and changes to the medical board assigned to conduct the exhumation.
Sindh authorities subsequently restored the original medical board after objections from the family. The investigation team was also reconstituted, and responsibility for the murder investigation was transferred from Ferozabad police station to Zaman Town police station. An earlier provincial government proposal for a judicial commission had been deferred after the family said it had confidence in the newly formed investigation team at that stage.
That position changed after Ali’s parents wrote to Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah expressing serious dissatisfaction with the progress of the inquiry. Their detailed representation raised questions about digital and forensic evidence, Ali’s communications before his death, the handling of his electronic devices and the conduct of members of the original investigation team. The family also sought scrutiny of whether anyone in a position of authority had improperly influenced the initial handling of the case.
Attention will now shift to the Sindh High Court, where the family intends to challenge the provincial government’s approach and seek a JIT. The chief justice will also have to consider the government’s request for a judicial commission. The outcome could determine the structure of the next phase of the investigation and whether alleged failures by police and medico-legal officials are examined separately from the criminal inquiry into Ali’s killing.