LAHORE - The LHC yesterday dismissed a Pakistan Awami Tehrik (PAT) appeal for directing the anti-terrorism court hearing Model Town killings case to summon former premier Nawaz Sharif, ex-CM Shehbaz Sharif and 10 others.

The majority decision of a three-judge bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC) also upheld the ATC’s decision to not summon the people mentioned in the appeal – that also include some other political figures and bureaucrats.

The court, however, dismissed then police inspector general Mushtaq Sukhera’s appeal that his name be excluded from the case report.

In effect, this means that only the policemen mentioned in the Model Town killings case would have to face the consequences, while political figures have been cleared.

The PAT, critical of the LHC verdict, has announced to challenge it before the apex court.

The LHC bench was headed by Justice Muhammad Qasim Khan. Other members were Justice Aalia Neelum and Justice Sardar Ahmad Naeem.

While the latter two judges ruled against summoning the said 12 respondents in the case, the head of the bench opposed their decision and wrote a dissenting note.

The LHC order means the heirs of those killed in the tragedy would have to wait for long to get justice.

Wednesday’s verdict is the third major relief the Sharifs have got through the judiciary in recent weeks.

The first relief was when the Islamabad High Court suspended the sentence awarded by an accountability court to Nawaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam and son-in-law Capt (r) Muhammad Safdar in Avenfield property reference.

As a result, the three were released from the Adiala jail - where they stayed for about two months. The former prime minister and his daughter had come from London on July 13 to surrender before the law. The son-in-law was already in Pakistan and was arrested by the police almost simultaneously.

The Sharifs got a second relief when the Election Commission of Pakistan threw out a petition that the PML-N should not be allowed to use suffix “N” with the party name after the disqualification of the former prime minister by the apex court.

Wednesday order by a full bench of the LHC would serve as a morale booster for the PML-N, although it may have to face criminal cases during the tenure of its arch rival Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf on account of irregularities being investigated in other matters.

Already, a number of projects completed or launched by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz government are being investigated.

On June 17, 2014, the police had launched an operation to remove barricades outside the Model Town residence of PAT Chairman Dr Tahirul Qadri.

The residence of Dr Qadri is only yards away from the secretariat of Minhaj-ul-Quran International – a non-governmental organisation founded and headed by Dr Qadri which is running educational institutes and religious projects in around 90 countries.

The PAT supporters resisted the action as a result of which the police started firing. The action continued for several hours, leading to the deaths of at least 14 persons and injuries to over 100 others.

After a long struggle, the PAT succeeded in getting a case registered against the then prime minister Nawaz Sharif, then chief minister Shehbaz Sharif, then law minister Rana Sanaullah Khan and many other political leaders. A large number of police officials were also named in the FIR.

However, on February 7, 2017, an anti-terrorism court ruled that Mian Nawaz Sharif, Shehbaz Sharif and political personalities accused of having ordered the action or playing any other role were not guilty and could not be summoned in the case.

The court placed the entire responsibility on then police inspector general Mushtaq Sukhera and other police personnel present on the spot.

A Minhaj-ul-Quran official Jawad Hamid had filed, on behalf of PAT, a criminal revision petition challenging the ATC order in April 2017.

LHC verdict

(APP adds) In the detailed verdict delivered on Wednesday, Justice Aalia Neelum and Justice Ahmad Naeem held that the order of non-summoning of the respondents did not suffer from any illegality as the trial court had examined all the witnesses which the petitioner/complainant desired to produce and intended to rely.

The judges further held that allegations levelled in the complaint and stated by the witnesses were found to be afterthought and did not disclose essential ingredients for constituting the offences punishable under section 409, 120 B, 506 of PPC.

When no allegation is made against the respondents then proceeding against them [accused] on the basis of such complaint would be abuse of process of court, they held and dismissed the petition.

However, bench head Justice Muhammad Qasim Khan in his minority verdict set aside the ATC order while terming it against the law. He observed that material available on file had not been appreciated [by the other two judges] properly.

He ruled for remanding the trial court with the direction that it was duty of the ATC, during proceedings under section 202 of the Code, to determine the falsehood or truthfulness of allegations levelled in the complaint.

Justice Qasim further wrote in his decision that the trial court might held further inquiry into the matter or get it investigated through any person/agency or a team of experts.

The bench had reserved its verdict on the petitions challenging the trial court’s decision on June 27 after Punjab Prosecutor General Ehtesham Qadir and lawyers of appellants had concluded their arguments.

 

 

ATC decision

Earlier, the anti-terrorism court had dismissed the complaint of Jawad Hamid/PAT to the extent of summoning the above said 12 people- including Nawaz, Shehbaz, now Punjab Assembly opposition leader Hamza Shahbaz, former law minister Rana Sanaullah, former Railways minister Khwaja Saad Rafiq, former defence minister Khwaja Asif and former information minister Pervez Rashid.

These 12 personalities also included former state minister Abid Sher Ali, former interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, then personal secretary to chief minister Syed Tauqir Shah, former home secretary Azam Suleman and then Lahore Commissioner Rashid Mahmood Langrial.

However, the trial court agreed to summon 125 officials of police and district government for trial. Former IGP Mushtaq Sukhera, who was also included in the ATC list of accused, challenged summons by the trial court before the high court.

In April, Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar took a suo motu notice of the unnecessary delay in the proceedings of the trial court and the high court relating to the Model Town incident case. The CJP ordered the trial court and the high court for early disposal of the case.