Daily Times

The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday heard a petition filed against formation of a new Joint Investigation Team (JIT) to probe the Model Town case.

The two-member bench of the LHC headed by Justice Qasim Khan heard the plea. The court sought assistance from relevant officials on January 30 to inquire whether the petition was admissible in high court. The court asked whether the high court had authority to inspect directives of the Supreme Court. The petitioner said the apex court had given no directives about the new JIT, except the government assurance that it had given to the Supreme Court (SC) regarding forming a new probe team.

On January 21, the formed JIT following SC orders in Model Town case had summoned former Punjab law minister Rana Sanaullah.

The Punjab Home Department on January 3 formed a JIT for a fresh probe into the 2014 Model Town incident.

The apex court on October 6 had taken notice of plea by Bisma Amjad, the daughter of Tanzila Amjad who was among those martyred in the Model Town firing incident, seeking the formation of a new investigation team to probe the carnage.

On June 17, 2014, at least 14 people were killed and 100 others injured when the police opened fire to disperse protesting Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) workers during an anti-encroachment operation outside the residence of PAT Chief Dr Tahirul Qadri.

Published in Daily Times, January 25^th 2019.