'Faizabad probe commission recommends action against responsible'

ISLAMABAD: The Faizabad probe commission has completed its final report, ARY News reported on Thursday, citing well-placed sources. 

The commission was constituted to investigate the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) sit-in staged at Faizabad Interchange in Islamabad in 2017 on the orders of the Supreme Court.

Sources said the commission head Akhtar Ali Shah has submitted the final report to the Cabinet Division including the statements of 28 important personalities including the retired army generals and government officials in the Faizabad sit-in probe.

The reports of the Intelligence Bureau (IB), police, Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA), Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) are also made part of the report

The Faizabad probe commission in its report said all decisions made during the TLP’s sit-in were taken by the chief executive at the demand of the provincial government, the sources said.

The commission has also recommended action against the many concerned personalities in its report, the sources said.

Read more: Faiz Hameed ‘records’ statement before Faizabad sit-in commission

The federal government will submit its report to the Supreme Court.

Faizabad sit-in

Back on November 08, 2017, Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) organized a sit-in at Faizabad interchange against the amendments in the Election Bill 2017, changing the word oath to declaration.

The protesters demanded the resignation of Minister for Law and Justice Zahid Hamid to “protect the identity of the country”.

As a result of the protest, the then PML-N government had to sack its law minister Zahid Hamid. The Supreme Court had taken suo motu notice of the sit-in on November 21, 2017.

Later, a division bench led by Justice Qazi Faez Isa on February 6, 2019 unveiled its verdict in the sit-in case, criticizing the role of intelligence agencies in the saga.

Soon after assuming office of the chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) in September, 2023, Justice Isa listed for hearing the petitions that had been filed against the SC’s February 2019 verdict.

On Nov 1, the bench rejected the fact-finding committee formed by the government to investigate the matter and ordered it to form a commission of inquiry to unveil the mastermind behind the sit-in.