AGP seeks adjournment in Model Town case

LAHORE: Advocate General of Punjab (AGP) Ahmad Jamal Sukhera on Tuesday asked a Lahore High Court full bench to defer proceedings on petitions against the formation of a new Joint Investigation Team (JIT) on the 2014 Model Town incident as the Supreme Court had also taken cognizance of the law points involved in the case.

In his arguments against the maintainability of the petitions, Sukhera said the high court should wait for a decision by the Supreme Court. However, the bench headed by Justice Muhammad Qasim Khan asked the law officer to cite a single judgment that restricted a high court from hearing a common matter pending before the apex court without any stay order. Justice Malik Shahzad Ahmad Khan and Justice Alia Neelum were the other members at the bench.

The bench regretted that the petitions were pending in the high court for long and proceedings had been adjourned so many times on the request of the government. Referring to aggrieved party/Idara Minhajul Quran, the bench observed that the high court had been criticised in the media for delaying the decision. “Even today we have taken up the petitions after four months,” said Justice Qasim Khan.

Sukhera said there was a possibility that the apex court would resume hearing in the coming month. To a query whether the SC had ordered the formation of the new JIT, the law officer said the apex court had disposed of the petition of Bisma Amjad for being “borne fruit” as the prayer of the petitioner for constitution of a second JIT stood addressed by the provincial government.

At this, the bench observed that the apex court had not touched the merits of the petition and disposed of the same as it bore fruit in light of the government’s undertaking. The AGP said he was just trying to say that the matter in hand was sensitive and the high court should let the apex court decide it. However, he admitted that the SC had not been so far determined the question of law involved in the case.

Justice Qasim Khan wondered and asked the law officer as if there was any bar on the high court to decide sensitive matters. Earlier, Idara Minhajul Quran’s counsel Azhar Siddique also requested the bench to adjourn hearing till a decision by the SC.

However, the bench turned down the request and reminded the counsel that it was his client who often gave statements in the media and accused the high court of delaying the proceedings. The bench adjourned hearing till Wednesday (today) and asked Advocate Siddique to come up with his arguments. The new JIT was constituted on Jan 3, 2019 for a fresh probe into the Model Town carnage following a notification issued by the chief secretary.

However, the bench with a majority decision of two to one had on March 22 suspended the notification. Justice Malik Shahzad Ahmad Khan and Justice Aalia Neelum were other members of the bench.

Khurram Rafiq and other police officials facing trial in the Model Town case had challenged the legitimacy of the new JIT.

They argued that the Code of Criminal Procedure (Cr.P.C) and Anti Terrorism Act 1997 did |not allow fresh investigations into a case after submission of challan and framing of charges in particular.