ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court acquitted the main accused of Baldia Town factory fire case – Abdul Rehman alias Bhola and Zubair alias Chariya – by setting aside the death sentences, handed down by a trial court and later upheld by the Sindh High Court (SHC).
A three-judge bench headed by Justice Malik Shahzad Ahmed Khan on Wednesday hearing the arguments of the prosecution and defence counsel announced the verdict.
The bench observed that the prosecution had failed to establish its case beyond reasonable doubt. It held that in light of the evidence and legal issues involved, the accused were entitled to the benefit of the doubt.
The bench also disposed of an appeal filed by the MQM-P, seeking expungement of certain judicial observation, saying since original judgment had been set aside therefore the remarks have become ineffective.
The Sindh High Court on September 12, 2023 had upheld the death penalty handed down to two workers of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) and set aside the life term of four employees in the Baldia factory fire case.
The verdict was announced by the two-judge anti-terrorism appellate bench, headed by Justice Mohammad Karim Khan Agha, on the 11th anniversary of the country’s deadliest industrial disaster.
An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Karachi had on September 22, 2020 sentenced two MQM workers, Zubair alias Chariya and Abdul Rehman alias Bhola, to death in the high-profile Baldia factory arson case — eight years after the blaze claimed hundreds of lives.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026