ISLAMABAD, June 18: Taking notice of reaction to the rape case of Mukhtaran Mai, the Supreme Court has decided to start sifting the facts on June 27 to reach the truth, sources said.

A three-member bench comprising Chief Justice-designate Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, Justice Rana Bhagwandas and Justice Saiyed Saeed Ashhad would take up two appeals and a Supreme Court suo motu notice, pending for more than three months.

Mukhtaran Mai, who attracted international attention when her name was put on the exit control list (ECL) and her passport was seized to discourage her from visiting US on the invitation of Asian-American Network Against Abuse of Human Rights (ANAA), had challenged Lahore High Court’s acquittal of the accused involved in the famous Meerwala rape case on the orders of a tribal council. Similarly the Punjab government had also appealed before the apex court against the high court’s decision.

While on March 14, the Supreme Court intervened to end an inter-court controversy by staying separate orders of the Lahore High Court and the Federal Shariat Court (FSC) by deciding to hold its own hearing.

The SC had to take the matter into its hands when the FSC suspended LHC-Multan Bench order of acquitting convicts involved in the rape by declaring high court’s judgment as coram-non-judice (without jurisdiction). Earlier on March 3, LHC-Multan Bench had overturned convictions of five men sentenced to death in 2002 for raping Mukhtaran Mai on the orders of a tribal council for her brother’s alleged affair, but commuted to life imprisonment, the death penalty of sixth convict for attacking Mukhtaran Mai.

Taking suo motu notice, Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Nazim Hussain Siddiqui had summoned the entire record of the case from the high court and the FSC, while notices were served on Punjab Advocate-General Aftab Iqbal and Mukhtaran Mai. Bailable arrest warrants were issued against the accused, acquitted by the high court but later rearrested on the direction of the prime minister.