The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Monday pronounced the reserved verdict and rejected the appeals of the two convicts awarded death sentence in the Baldia Town factory fire case, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

The appeals of Abdul Rehman Bhola and Zubair Charia against their death sentence were rejected.

The court ordered to uphold the decision of the anti-terrorism court (ATC) which sentenced both accused to death.

The court, however, accepted the appeals of the four accused who were sentenced to life in prison in the same case. The government’s appeals against the acquittal of Rauf Siddiqui and others were also rejected by the court.

It is to be noted here that a two-member bench of the SHC had reserved the verdict on August 29 last after the arguments of the parties were completed.

In 2020, an anti-terrorism court sentenced two accused to death and four to life in prison.

The court sentenced Abdul Rehman Bhola, former sector in-charge of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), and Zubair Charia to death.

Four others including Shah Rukh, Fazal, Arshad Mehmood and Ali Muhammad were awarded life imprisonment.

The court acquitted Rauf Siddiqui, Abdul Sattar, Iqbal Adeeb Khanum and Umar Hassan due to the lack of evidence.

The convicted accused filed appeals against their conviction while the prosecution filed appeals against the acquittal of the four accused.

On September 11, 2012, as many as 259 people were burnt to death and more than 300 were injured due to a fire in an Ali Enterprises factory in Baldia Town, Karachi.

 

Reporter: Bilal Ahmed