Mir Raza Ali murder case: Judicial commission issues notices to parties for Friday

Mir Raza Ali murder case: Judicial commission problems notices to parties for Friday.

Key points

• Ishaq Tanoli Published August 27, 2026 Updated August 27, 2026 05: 31pm.
• Ferozabad police registered a case on the complaint of the victim's father, Mir Husain Ali, under sections 365, 302 and 201 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).
• KARACHI: The judicial commission formed to investigate the murder of Mir Raza Ali issued notices to the parties for Friday, the commission's spokesperson remarked on Thursday.
• Ali, a 25-year-old Karachi-based businessman, was discovered dead with a gunshot wound in Gulistan-I-Jauhar last month, a day after he was noted missing.
• Ishaq Tanoli is a Karachi-based reporter for Dawn with over 20 years of experience covering judicial and electoral affairs.

Ishaq Tanoli Published August 27, 2026 Updated August 27, 2026 05: 31pm. Join our Whatsapp Channel. Add Dawn as a trusted source.

Ali, a 25-year-old Karachi-based businessman, was discovered dead with a gunshot wound in Gulistan-I-Jauhar last month, a day after he was noted missing. The provincial administration decided on Sunday to form a judicial commission for a review of the probe into the case, despite objections from the victim's family.

Meanwhile, the head of the commission, Justice Omar Sial, issued notices to the parties for tomorrow (Friday), according to the commission's spokesperson.

As well as to the family's lawyer, Advocate Jibran Nasir, notices have been issued to the family of the slain business owner and the focal person of the Sindh administration.

Ali had gone missing from his home in PECHS, Block-2, on July 28, and his body – bearing gunshot wounds – was discovered in bushes in a hilly area opposite the University of Karachi in Gulistan-I-Jauhar the next day. Ferozabad police registered a case on the complaint of the victim's father, Mir Husain Ali, under sections 365, 302 and 201 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).

Meanwhile, the Sindh administration stated on Sunday it would ask the chief justice of the provincial high court to establish a judicial commission to determine whether the investigation in the case was being conducted impartially and in accordance with the law.

Nevertheless, shortly after the announcement, the family filed a petition in the Sindh High Court (SHC) through Advocate Nasir, requesting it to set aside the decision to form the commission and constitute a joint investigation team (JIT) instead.

For context, the petition, a copy of which is available with Dawn, named 19 respondents, including the Sindh administration, Sindh Home Department, the provincial inspector general of police, Karachi's further inspector general of police, the Federation of Pakistan and the defence ministry.

In practice, the petitioners requested the court to set aside the Sindh government's decision to form a judicial commission, including "any subsequent proceedings arising from it".

Instead, they sought the court's directives for the formation of an "independent, impartial and multi-agency JIT, including members from Sindh police, Rangers, Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), Intelligence Bureau (IB), Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), and military intelligence, with a senior officer of unimpeachable integrity who has had no previous involvement" in the case appointed as its head.

For context, the plea contended that the head must conduct a "fresh and comprehensive investigation into the abduction, torture and murder" of Ali.

Ali, a 25-year-old businessman and a graduate of the Institute of Business Administration, was discovered dead with a gunshot wound on July 29 in bushes in Karachi's Gulistan-I-Jauhar a day after he was noted missing.

While his family was convinced that he was kidnapped, tortured and murdered, police were initially building the case around the possibility that he died by suicide.

Notably, a murder charge was eventually continued to the first information report (FIR) after the exhumation and a second post-mortem of Ali's body disclosed that he had suffered multiple injuries and was shot in the back, ruling out the possibility of suicide.

For context, the second autopsy was conducted after a controversy between the Karachi police surgeon and investigators over alleged loopholes in the medico-legal report regarding Ali's first post-mortem examination.

On August 6, a judicial magistrate had allowed the exhumation of the body on an application filed by Ali's father, directing the police surgeon and the Sindh health secretary to constitute a medical board for the exhumation.

In practice, the Sindh health department then constituted an eight-member board, with police surgeon Dr Sumaiyya Syed as the convener. Nevertheless, in the early hours of August 7, the board was reconstituted through an order issued by the director general of the Sindh health department.

While Dr Syed remained the convener of the new five-member board, its members were changed.

Nevertheless, Ali's family rejected the new board. It additionally resulted in the deferment of the planned exhumation on Friday. Meanwhile, Advocate Nasir accused the authorities of trying to bury the facts.

After which Ali's body was exhumed on August 8, the Sindh administration then restored the original medical board.

Notably, a day afterwards, the Sindh inspector general of police's (IG) office notified the reconstitution of the investigating team probing Ali's death. Meanwhile, Karachi's Extra IG Azad Khan transferred the investigation into Ali's murder to Zaman Town police station from Ferozabad Police Station, where the case was registered.

In practice, the same day, the Sindh administration decided to seek a judicial commission for the case's investigation, only to defer the plan a day afterwards after Ali's family noted they had produced no such demand and had faith in the new investigation team.

On Aug 19, Ali's parents, Mir Hussain and Mariam Hussain, wrote to Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, seeking his "direct supervision of the murder investigation" into the slain business owner's death.

They additionally called on the chief minister to order an investigation and departmental inquiry into the previous investigation team and immediately suspend the officers involved.

On Sunday, the provincial administration acknowledged the letter and unveiled its decision to form a judicial commission to determine whether the investigation in the case was being conducted impartially and in accordance with the law.

Nevertheless, shortly after the announcement, the counsel for Ali's family raised objections and noted they would approach the SHC in the matter.

In practice, the family's counsel held that the family was not informed of the commission, its terms of reference were not disclosed and that the police were yet to submit an investigation report before the magistrate.

Ishaq Tanoli is a Karachi-based reporter for Dawn with over 20 years of experience covering judicial and electoral affairs. As well as election matters, his reporting focuses on the proceedings of the Supreme Court and Sindh High Court. He can be discovered on X at @ishaqtanolihotm.

For now, mir Raza Ali murder case: Judicial commission issues notices to parties for remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.