Daily Times

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday asked for the complete records of the Town Municipal Administration’s (TMA) application to remove encroachment and the dispatching of police force that led to a standoff between Punjab police and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) activists before turning into the infamous Model Town incident of 2014.Chaired by Justice Qasim Ali Khan, a full bench of the LHC asked for the records after PAT counsel concluded their argument.

The petition pertains to PAT challenging an anti-terrorism court’s refusal to include the Sharif brothers and 10 others as defendants in a complaint over the Model Town incident.

The LHC ordered for the records to be presented in the court on Thursday “under any circumstances” and directed the PAT counsel to submit a list of those who lost their lives or were injured in the incident.

The high court also asked for the appointment and transfer of former inspector general of Punjab police, Mushtaq Ahmad Sukhera.

Moreover, the LHC asked for the copy of the acquittal orders of Shahid Aziz alias Gullu Butt, who was accused of rowdyism, obstructing public servants in discharge of official duties, smashing private vehicles with a club outside Minhajul Quran Secretariat in Model Town on June 17, 2014 when a heavy police contingent had allegedly engaged the protesting supporters of Dr Tahirul Qadri.

That very day, 14 people were killed and 100 others injured after police launched an assault on PAT supporters gathered outside the residence of Tahirul Qadri in Model Town, Lahore. A subsequent judicial inquiry had pointed fingers at Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah and Punjab police for what had transpired that day.

Published in Daily Times, May 24^th 2018.