Hearing of Baldia factory fire case adjourned as parties fail to show up

An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Friday adjourned the hearing of the Baldia factory fire case until April 25, without conducting any proceedings as some parties could not appear because of the COVID-19 lockdown.

The ATC-VII judge asked the defence side to ensure its presence on the next hearing and submit their final arguments.

The case is in its last stage. According to a court staffer, around 400 witnesses have been examined and cross-examined during the trial. Police had named 768 witnesses in the charge sheet but 368 of them were given up for being unnecessary.

Two-hundred-and-sixty people were killed and 49 injured in a blaze at the Ali Enterprises garments factory in Baldia Town on September 11, 2012.

The incident is regarded as one the deadliest industrial disasters, an eye-opener on the dangerous working conditions in factories and a reminder of the lawlessness in the country.

The prosecution says that the factory was set on fire by men belonging to the Muttahida Qaumi Movement because the factory owners had refused to pay them extortion. Arshad Bhaila, one of the owners of the factory, had testified in the court that MQM men had asked him to pay Rs250 million in extortion or 50 per cent shares in the profit.

He said he was willing to pay Rs10 million. Independent opinions suggest that regardless the cause of fire, casualties occurred because the factory lacked basic occupational health and safety standards and the building design was flawed. According to London-based research group Forensic Architecture which conducted an analysis of the fire using computer simulation, inadequate safety measures at the factory led to the catastrophic death toll.

The case is based on the findings of a JIT report which states that it was an arson incident. The report also disapproved previous investigations that had cited short circuit as the reason of the fire.

According to a report submitted by the Rangers to the Sindh High Court in early 2015, Rizwan Qureshi, a suspected hitman, had narrated the factory was set ablaze. He implicated the MQM for being behind the incident.

Ironically, the said statement was given in June/July 2013 but it was two years later when it was made public or action was taken on it. Until then, two of the prime suspects, Hammad Siddiqui, former MQM leader, and Abdul Rehman, alias Bhola, had left Pakistan.

Ten suspects currently face the trial including then MQM’s commerce and industries minister Rauf Siddiqui, some factory employees and private persons. Of these, Rehman and Zubair, alias Charya, MQM worker, are in judicial custody in jail. Siddiqui has been an absconder whereas the rest of the accused have obtained bail.