LHC full bench to decide about Model Town report: Rana Sana

LAHORE: Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah said it would be premature to make Justice Baqi Najafi’s report on the Model Town incident public as the matter was still sub judice before the Lahore High Court full bench which was expected to give final verdict on Monday.

The provincial minister said the Punjab government had absolutely no issue with making public the report which was informally available with media as well as the complainants of the case. 

“A copy of the report is available with Dr Tahirul Qadri. He holds press conferences to flare up situation,” he said and added, “Whatever decision the full court makes, we will implement it.” Talking to media on Thursday, Rana Sana said it was rather hypocritical that the PAT was anxious to make the report public but had boycotted the commission which prepared it.

About the Model Town incident, he said two elements clashed and it wasn’t a pre-planned event. Commenting on the single-member bench decision, he said a smaller bench giving a verdict on a sub judice under a lager bench was according to the law. “The matter of making the report public is among the issues being decided by the full bench,” he added.

“The government brought this issue to the notice of the honourable judge but he totally ignored it and gave the decision,” he noted. Rana Sana said the Punjab government would file an intra-court petition, challenging the single-member bench’s judgment on the abovementioned premises. He cited another reason for not making the report public officially to-date. “If the report is made public then there is a possibility that sectarianism would be promoted," he said.

The provincial minister ruled out the speculations regarding the report having incriminating findings that would indict Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif. “There is just one line in the entire report regarding Shahbaz Sharif and that line says that Shahbaz Sharif told the officer to handle/take care of the situation,” said Rana Sana.