'Punjab govt put all-out efforts to trash Model Town probe report' - Qadri

LAHORE: Throwing light on the party’s over three-year-long endeavours to seek justice, Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) chief Tahirul Qadri said on Tuesday that the Punjab government put all-out efforts to trash the Model Town incident report.

Addressing a press conference, Qadri said that the PAT leadership did not let the case die out as the provincial government made all efforts to divert the attention of authorities concerned from the commission report.

“We did not form the commission, it was solely constituted by the Punjab government after terming it a serious public concern and appointing Justice Baqar Najafi as head of the commission,” Qadri said.

Despite all these facts, the provincial government was still averse to release the Justice Baqar Najafi inquiry report into killings of 14 PAT activists, he underscored.

Hailing Lahore High Court (LHC)’s decision of releasing a report of the judicial inquiry into Model Town killings, Qadri said that his party has been waiting for the justice for past over three years.

Calling for immediate release of Model Town incident inquiry report, Qadri said he along with PAT activists would peacefully file an application at Punjab secretariat tomorrow (Wednesday) for release of the report.

He said the name of Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif along with his address and other responsible in Model Town tragedy mentioned in the commission report.

Punjab CM should immediately step down from his office for the incident that killed 14 activists, said PAT chief.

LHC rejects Punjab govt petition

Earlier today, a larger bench of the LHC rejected Punjab government’s petition, challenging a single bench’s decision to release the report of a judicial inquiry carried out into the Model Town incident.

It directed the government to make the report public within 30 days and provide a copy of the report to the victims of the Model Town incident.

The full bench comprising Justice Abid Aziz Sheikh, Justice Syed Shahbaz Ali Rizvi, and Justice Qazi Muhammad Amin had earlier on November 24 reserved the verdict on an intra-court appeal filed by the provincial government through which it challenged the decision of the single bench that called for making the report public.

The single bench comprising Justice Syed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi had allowed a petition filed by the victims of the incident on Sept 21, directing the government to release the report.

The provincial government’s lawyer argued before the bench that the matter was sub-judice before a trial court and releasing the report at this juncture will affect and jeopardize the trial, opening a parallel trial in media.