SC moved for release of Model Town killings probe report

LAHORE: A Constitutional petition has been moved in the Supreme Court seeking directions to registrar of the Lahore High Court to release report of an inquiry conducted by Justice Ali Baqar Najafi into 2014 Model Town incident which claimed lives of 14 workers of Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) by police firing.

Advocate Sheraz Zaka has filed the petition at the Lahore registry of the Supreme Court. The lawyer said a larger bench of the LHC is already seized with a number of petitions demanding the Punjab government to make the inquiry report public. He pleaded that Article 19 of the Constitution provides right to freedom of speech and expression and the people have the right to know whatever has been written in the inquiry report. The lawyer stated that prima facie the only reasons for not disclosing the inquiry commission report are the apprehensions, which are remote and far-fetched.

The lawyer argued that it is a recognised fact that there is a thin line between “in public interest” and “against the public interest”. And the right balance and equilibrium has to be maintained between the two, he adds. Therefore, he argued, the report should be made public and its recommendations would obviously result in improving the governance mechanism of the entire Punjab province.  Advocate Zaka urged the court to direct the LHC registrar to make the inquiry commission report public on the website of the high court.