ATC calls for final arguments in Baldia factory fire case on Feb 3.

Byline: Naeem Sahoutara

KARACHI -- An antiterrorism court on Wednesday fixed Feb 3 for recording final arguments in a case pertaining to the Baldia factory fire after 10 nominated accused persons denied their involvement in the incident, in which over 260 workers perished in September 2012.

Nine accused - including Muttahida Qaumi Movement leader and then provincial minister for commerce and industries Rauf Siddiqui, then MQM sector-in-charge Abdul Rehman, alias Bhola; Zubair, alias Chariya - have been charged with allegedly setting Ali Enterprises, the ill-fated industrial unit, on fire with the help of its four gatekeepers - Shahrukh Latif, Fazal Ahmed, Arshad Mehmood and Ali Mohammad.

On Wednesday, the matter was fixed before the ATC-VII judge for recording statements of two alleged key accused persons, Zubair, alias Chariya and Abdul Rehman, alias Bhola. Both the accused were produced from prison.

Abdul Rehman and Zubair, who had partially testified on the last date, completed their statements, as required under Section 342 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) after the prosecution rested its side.

After recording their statements, the judge fixed the matter for hearing final arguments and directed the special public prosecutor for the Rangers Sajid Mehboob Sheikh to advance arguments on Feb 3.

Earlier, MQM former legislator Rauf Siddiqui along with others - including three Hyderabad-based businesspersons Umar Hasan Qadri, Dr Abdul Sattar Khan and Iqbal Adeeb Khanum - and four gatekeepers of the factory also appeared before the court on bail.

In an earlier hearing, the judge had provided questionnaires, each containing some 380...