Verdict on legal point reserved

LAHORE: A Lahore High Court full bench on Tuesday reserved its verdict on a legal point whether interim orders of anti-terrorism courts could be challenged before the high court through writ petition or criminal revision.

The five-judge bench headed by Justice Syed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi was hearing a petition moved by a citizen, Saleem Shah, pleading that two parallel judgments of high court had created anomaly on the issue of assailing interim orders of the ATCs. The petitioner’s counsel stated that the LHC in one verdict ruled that writ petitions could be filed against the ATC’s decisions while another ruled that criminal revisions were required to be filed in this regard.

The petitioner pointed out that he filed an application before a Multan ATC in murder case of his brother to summon investigation officers as witnesses but the same was dismissed. He said he was in quandary as how to assail the order of the trial court in the existence of two different verdicts of the high court. Attorney General of Pakistan, advocate general of Punjab and prosecutor general of Punjab also assisted the court on the matter. The bench also appointed advocates Azam Nazir Tarar, Usman Naseem, Farhad Ali Shah and Mian Ali Haider as amicus curie (friends of court) in the case seeking their assistance in the case.

The full bench had also restrained Multan ATC from issuing the final verdict in the murder case.