Daily Times

LAHORE: Unidentified gunmen opened fire at the residence of Justice Ijazul Ahsan of the Supreme Court in Model Town in two separate incidents on Saturday night and Sunday morning, sparking strong condemnation from Pakistan Army, bar councils and civil society organisations.

No casualties were, however, reported in the attacks, one of which took place around 10:45pm on Saturday and the other at 9:10am on Sunday.

Model Town police has registered a case against unidentified armed persons under the anti-terrorism act on the charges of firing at the residence of the Supreme Court judge twice in 12 hours. A special investigation team under the supervision of DIG Investigation Chaudhry Sultan has been constituted to thoroughly probe the incidents.

According to police, spent bullet casing of a 9mm pistol was found near the main gate of the residence of Justice Ijazul Ahsan, while casing of another bullet was found near kitchen window of the house. Forensic experts also visited the residence twice and gathered evidence, including CCTV footage of the security cameras.

Soon after the incident, Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar reached the residence of Justice Ijazul Ahsan and ordered the Punjab inspector general of police to probe the incident. He also announced to oversee the whole matter himself. Other judges of the Supreme Court, Lahore High Court as well as notables also visited the residence of Justice Ijazul Ahsan to express solidarity with the judge.

Following the incident, Punjab government provided additional security to Justice Ijazul Ahsan. Police and other law enforcement agencies also launched a search operation in the area. However, no arrest with regard to the firing incidents was made till filing of this report.

It may be recalled that Justice Ijazul Ahsan was part of the five-member bench that delivered the verdict in the high-profile Panama Papers case on July 28, 2017, which led to the disqualification of Nawaz Sharif as prime minister of Pakistan.

Justice Ijazul Ahsan is also the monitoring judge to supervise and monitor the implementation of the Panama Papers case verdict. He is currently overseeing the ongoing proceedings by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and accountability courts against the Sharif family and Ishaq Dar.

He was also the part of three-member Supreme Court bench which heard 17 petitions against the controversial Elections Act, 2017, which had paved the way for Nawaz Sharif to head the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) after being disqualified by the apex court in Panama Papers case.

Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar and Justice Ijazul Ahsan often spend their weekend in Lahore where they take up several cases related to public interest and other matters at the apex court’s Lahore registry.

In their separate statements, the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) and Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA) condemned the firing incident and demanded immediate arrest of the culprits.

SCBA President Pir Kaleem Khursheed announced a strike and boycott of court proceedings on Monday (today).

Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, however, appealed to all bar councils across the country to call off strike scheduled for Monday. He requested the legal fraternity to attend the courts for the sake of dispensation of justice to litigants whose cases are already fixed for hearing in different courts. He said the litigants will come from far-flung areas to attend courts and the strike will not only affect routine court proceedings but also hurt the expectations of the people. He also extended his thanks and gratitude to all bar councils for their unflinching support during the difficult moments.

Pakistan Army also condemned the firing incidents at the residence of Justice Ijazul Ahsan. “Firing incident at the residence of Mr Justice Ijaz ul Ahsan is condemnable,” a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) read. “All stakeholders should ensure [a] secure environment for [the] effective functioning of the state institutions and continue the efforts to consolidate improving peace and stability,” it added.

Published in Daily Times, April 16^th 2018.