Lahore (December 5, 2017): The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday ordered Punjab government to make public the report of a judicial inquiry into 2014’s Model Town Killings by rejecting the provincial government’s intra-court appeal against a single member bench of the high court decision.
A full bench of the LHC announced its reserved verdict today over the petition filed by the Punjab government against the making public the Model town tragedy report today.
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The full bench headed by Justice Abid Aziz Shekikh directed Punjab government to release the Model Town inquiry report within 30 days.
The order came on the appeal of the Punjab government against the LHC’s earlier directives to disclose the Model Town inquiry report.
The Punjab government had filed an intra-court appeal against the September 21 decision of a single-bench ordering the release of the Model Town inquiry report, authored by LHC Justice Baqar Najafi.
In its Tuesday’s order, the full-bench directed for an impartial and transparent trial into the Model Town incident.
On September 21, Justice Mazahar Ali Naqvi had ordered the Punjab home secretary to make public the report, authored by LHC Justice Baqar Najafi, on the Model Town killings and provide a copy to the families of those killed and injured in the 2014 incident.
The government, in its appeal against the decision, had challenged the jurisdiction of the single bench to give its decision on the report, on the grounds that as many as eight identical petitions on the same matter were already pending before a full bench.
In the appeal, the government said it was neither asked by the single bench to file any reply nor was put on notice on the matter, adding that it was also not given any opportunity to explain its position on the case.
At least 14 people were killed and 100 others injured in the police action against Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) workers during an ‘anti-encroachment operation’ on June 17, 2014.
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