Seven-member JIT to probe Meskanzai’s murder

Following the targeted attack on the former chief judge of the province in Kharan which proved fatal, the Balochistan government has constituted a high-powered Joint Investigation Team (JIT) to probe the attack.

The Balochistan Home and Tribal Affairs Department issued a notification stating that the provincial government has formed a seven-member JIT to investigate the Kharan incident.

The committee will be led by the provincial counter terrorism department (CTD) DIG. Other members of the JIT include the Rukhshan Division DIG, Quetta SSP Investigations, representatives of Kharan’s chapters of the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), Military Intelligence (MI), Intelligence Bureau (IB), FCIO Kharan and the investigation officer of the case.

Read: Balochistan’s former top judge killed in Kharan attack

Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), Financial Monitoring Unit (FMU) Security and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) and The State Bank of Pakistan have also been ordered to assist the JIT in its investigations.

According to the order, the JIT has been tasked to submit its report within 30 working days to the Anti-Terrorism Court under Section 173 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC).

On October 14, former Balochistan High Court chief justice Noor Meskanzai was killed in a gun attack by unidentified assailants on Friday while offering prayers at a mosque.

The incident took place in Meskanzai’s native Kharan district.

He was shot at least four times in the stomach by attackers.

Who was Meskanzai

Meskanzai, 66, was a native of Kunri in the Kharan district of Balochistan.

He was born in the area after Partition in 1956. He obtained his early education from a government school in his native Kunri. Curiously, the school had been started by his father Dr Molvi Muhammad Qasim Aini Baloch as the first-ever private school in the district. The school, though, was nationalized by in 1951-1952.

After completing his matriculation in Kharan, he travelled to Quetta for further education. During his bachelors at the Balochistan University, he wrote a thesis on: “Democratic Concept of Educational Administration”.

He then completed his law degree from the University Law College in Quetta in 1979-1980.

After graduating, Meskanzai started his legal practice in September 1981. In his private practice, Meskanzai took on an assignment as a legal advisor to Customs in the Mekran Division, and Mekran Scouts in Turbat.

He was also a member of the Panel of Legal Advisors to PTCL Mekran Division.

In 1998, he briefly served as the assistant advocate general of Balochistan. In the Musharraf years, he was elected as the vice chairman of the Balochistan Bar Council. Subsequently, he was twice elected as the chairman of the Bar’s executive committee.

He held those positions till he was elevated as an additional judge of the Balochistan High Court in September 2009, and confirmed as a judge of the high court on the May 11, 2011.

In December 2014, he was promoted to the post of chief justice of Balochistan High Court, replacing Justice Ghulam Mustafa Mengal.

He retired from the Balochistan High Court in 2018.