Judicial commission again fails to finalise inquiry report on APS carnage

PESHAWAR: The judicial commission once again could not meet the deadline for finalising the inquiry report of the Army Public School (APS) carnage.

Imranullah Khan, the focal person for the judicial commission, said that this time the commission extended the time for finalising the inquiry report on the request of the Ministry of Defence.

He said the judicial commission had sent a questionnaire to the Ministry of Defence to seek a written reply as well as some necessary documents required before finalizing the report. “The Ministry of Defence has sent a request for giving it a few days for collecting certain documents and submitting written reply to the questionnaire by the judicial commission,” he added. He said the commission accepted the defence ministry’s request for submission of the answer-sheet and record within the next few days.

Earlier, the judicial commission had extended by two weeks for recording statements for finalizing the inquiry report on December 20 after the expiry of the six weeks given to it by the Supreme Court of Pakistan. Imranullah Khan said the commission had completed recording statements of 93 parents of the martyred and injured students and school staff including teachers. He said the judicial commission had also recorded statements of the investigation officers of Counter Terrorism Department, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He said the Counter Terrorism Department had already submitted the record and investigation report about the APS attack to the commission. Justice Muhammad Ibrahim Khan, a serving judge of the Peshawar High Court is conducting the inquiry. As many as 147 persons, including 132 students were martyred in the attack by six militants affiliated with the outlawed Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) on December 16, 2014. Chief Justice of Pakistan, Justice Mian Saqib Nisar had on October 5 ordered the formation of the judicial commission during his visit to Supreme Court’s Peshawar Registry after hearing grievances of the parents, mostly mothers of the martyred students. The parents had requested formation of the judicial commission for inquiry into the attack on APS.

Chief Justice of the Peshawar High Court, Waqar Ahmad Seth then notified Justice Muhammad Ibrahim Khan as head of the judicial commission.