SC throws out Sindh's plea to revisit Baldia factory fire acquittals
SC throws out Sindh’s plea to revisit Baldia factory fire acquittals
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed the Sindh government’s petition seeking a review of its June decision that overturned the convictions of two MQM workers in the Baldia factory fire case, closing the province’s latest legal challenge in one of Pakistan’s deadliest industrial disasters.
A three-judge bench headed by Justice Malik Shahzad Ahmed Khan, with Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi and Justice Shakeel Ahmed, took up the review petition moved through Sindh Prosecutor General Shabbir Shah. Sindh Additional Prosecutor General Saleem Akhtar argued the province’s case before the bench.
The court rejected the appeal to revisit the June 10 acquittal of Abdul Rehman alias Bhola and Zubair alias Chariya. It also dismissed a separate petition seeking the removal of remarks about the MQM from the June 10 decision. The bench said a detailed order would be issued later.
What the Sindh government argued
In its petition, filed in July, the Sindh government contended that the June 10 judgment suffered from errors of fact and circumstance, mishandled a confessional statement, and misapplied the law on vicarious liability and common object.
The province argued that the apex court had overlooked the evidence of the prosecution’s star witnesses and that the trial record supported the convictions handed down by the lower courts.
The June acquittal
In June this year, the Supreme Court set aside the death sentences awarded to the two men by an anti-terrorism court in September 2020 and upheld by the Sindh High Court in 2023, granting them the benefit of the doubt on charges of murder, extortion, arson and terrorism.
The fire at the multi-storey Ali Enterprises garment factory in Baldia Town on September 11, 2012, killed more than 260 workers, including 16 who could never be identified. It remains the deadliest industrial blaze in Pakistan’s history, and the question of who set the building alight has never been settled to the satisfaction of the victims’ families.
What happens next
With the review petition dismissed, the Sindh government’s legal options have narrowed sharply. The detailed order, expected later, will set out the bench’s reasoning in full. For the families of the 260 dead, the ruling marks another inconclusive chapter in a case that has moved between trial courts, the high court and the apex court for over a decade without producing a final, uncontested account of the tragedy.
FAQs
Why did the Supreme Court dismiss the Sindh government’s plea?
The three-judge bench found no grounds to revisit its June 10 decision overturning the convictions of the two MQM workers, and a detailed order explaining its reasoning is expected later.
Who were the men acquitted in the Baldia factory fire case?
Abdul Rehman alias Bhola and Zubair alias Chariya, two MQM workers sentenced to death by an anti-terrorism court in 2020 on charges of murder, extortion, arson and terrorism. The Sindh High Court upheld the sentences in 2023 before the Supreme Court set them aside in June 2026.
How many people died in the 2012 Baldia factory fire?
More than 260 workers, including 16 who could not be identified, died when the Ali Enterprises garment factory in Baldia Town, Karachi, was set on fire on September 11, 2012.
