Pak SC orders early resolution of Model Town cases
LAHORE, Apr 14: The Supreme Court (SC) on Saturday ordered an early resolution of cases pertaining to the Model Town tragedy pending in provincial courts.
During the suo motu hearing of Tanzeela’s murder, a victim of the tragedy, the apex court ordered Judge Aijaz Awan of the anti-terrorism court (ATC) to conduct hearings daily and cancelled his leave.
Ordering all pending cases to be resolved, the bench also ordered the section-wise bifurcation of the Justice Baqar Najfi report. The advocate general is expected to submit the report to the top court today by 4 pm.
“Any extrajudicial measure will not be carried out, and those disrespecting my judges are not liable for any relaxation,” the chief justice remarked. He further inquired whether there were any pending orders in the ATC pertaining to disqualified-for-life Nawaz Sharif or other political leaders.
The prosecutor general of Punjab also submitted the record and proceedings of both Model Town cases in the apex court.
Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar earlier took notice of the delay in the provision of justice to the victims of the Model Town tragedy and summoned the record of the case from the anti-terrorism court.
The 2014 incident had taken the lives of 14 people, while over 85 were injured as the police cracked down on Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) workers after a dispute over the removal of barriers placed around the Minhaj-ul-Quran Secretariat.
An FIR was registered against police officers and the provincial government. PAT had staged protests for justice and a judicial commission was also formed to investigate the incident. However, its report was not made public for three years, until orders from the Lahore High Court last year.
The case is still under trial at an Anti-Terrorism Court.
