ISLAMABAD – The Supreme Court of Pakistan has acquitted Abdul Rehman Bhola and Zubair Charia in the Baldia Town factory fire case, overturning the death sentences handed down by the trial court and upheld by the Sindh High Court.
During the hearing, the apex court granted the accused the benefit of the doubt and ordered their release. The court said a detailed judgment would be issued later. It also rejected applications seeking to make the families of the victims parties to the case.
Justice Shahzad Malik observed that including some victims’ families as parties could lead to hundreds of similar applications, further complicating the proceedings.
During the hearing, Justice Malik questioned several aspects of the prosecution’s case. He noted that while the Sindh High Court had held that witnesses remained silent because the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) controlled Karachi at the time, only Zubair Charia had made a confessional statement, while Abdul Rehman Bhola had not. He also questioned why the acquittals of other individuals allegedly linked to the extortion demand had not been challenged.
The judge further remarked that merely serving as a sector in-charge of a political party was not a crime and described the Baldia Town tragedy as a heartbreaking incident, while questioning whether the disaster resulted from negligence by factory owners or other factors.
Counsel Farogh Naseem argued that MQM founder Altaf Hussain had been expelled from the party following his August 22, 2016 speech, adding that Hussain was also present in 2015 when responsibility for the incident was shifted toward MQM after the factory owners were acquitted.
The court also raised questions about the prosecution’s evidence, noting that no proof had been found of chemicals being used to start the fire. Justice Aqeel Abbasi remarked that the prosecution’s case was not based on an intention to kill people, while Justice Shakeel Ahmad questioned what benefit the accused could have gained by causing the deaths of factory workers if their objective was extortion.
The accused had been charged with setting fire to the Baldia Town garment factory on September 11, 2012, resulting in the deaths of 259 people and injuries to 59 others in one of Pakistan’s deadliest industrial disasters.
