Punjab govt's lawyer dragging feet in Model Town report case: PAT

LAHORE: Pakistan Awami Tahreek’s lawyer accused on Wednesday the Punjab government’s counsel of dragging feet in concluding his arguments in a case pertaining to release of the inquiry report of the Model Town incident.

As a three-member bench headed by Justice Abid Aziz Sheikh began hearing the appeal filed by Punjab government against release of the Model Town incident’s inquiry report, PAT counsel said, Khawaja Haris, who represented the government, was deliberately dragging on the matter.

The bench directed Haris to conclude his arguments on the next hearing on Nov 6.

Picking up his arguments where he had left off at the previous hearing, the government’s counsel said it was not possible for the government to make the report public. He said the report had no legal standing, except disclosing facts.

After a single bench of LHC directed the government to release the inquiry report of the Model Town incident, the government approached against the verdict and succeeded in obtaining a stay order against release of the report.

It had filed an intra court appeal, stating that as the matter was under review by a full bench of the high court, the decision of the single bench should be set aside, adding that the judicial report contained matters of national importance that could not be disclosed at the moment.

It merits to mention here that the LHC had announced its judgment on a petition filed by the PAT, ordering the provincial government to publish and public Justice Baqar Najafi Commission’s Report.

On July 17, 2014, 14 people were killed and 100 others injured when the police opened fire to disperse protesting PAT workers during an anti-encroachment operation outside the residence of PAT chief Dr. Tahirul Qadri.