ISLAMABAD: Giving in to calls for judicial intervention, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Anwar Zaheer Jamali on Wednesday took suo motu notice of the bombing of Quetta’s Civil Hospital on August 8, ordering the Balochistan chief secretary and the inspector general of police (IGP) to explain on Sept 20 what action had been taken to apprehend the culprits.

The CJP took the suo motu action on a note from Supreme Court registrar Arbab Mohammad Arif. The registrar’s note contained details of the Quetta bombing, which left 73 people dead, while 104 people were seriously wounded in an attack that is said to have eliminated an entire generation of the province’s legal fraternity

Earlier on Aug 13, the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) had, through a resolution, requested the chief justice to take suo motu notice of the Quetta tragedy and take those responsible to task.

Legal community had been pressing for judicial intervention in the matter

On Aug 22, a demonstration was held outside the Parliament House in Islamabad on the PBC’s call, where lawyers demanded the immediate arrest of those behind the attack and early provision of monetary support to the families of those slain and injured. They had also called on the chief justice to take suo motu action in the matter.

Former chief justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry had also written to CJP Jamali on Aug 25, asking him to take cognizance of the horrific Quetta attack. The letter emphasised that the Supreme Court must ensure the rights of the people of Balochistan, especially their right to life as guaranteed under Article 9 of the Constitution.

However, the registrar’s note did not mention either the letter or the PBC demand, but stated that the incident had raised doubts about the state of governance in Balochistan, and indeed the whole country.

But the tone and tenor of the registrar’s note is quite similar to Justice Chaudhry’s letter.

“The way the planned incident took place brings into question the efficacy of the state machinery. Lack of security arrangements, despite past precedents, points at the miserable failure of the provincial government and law enforcement agencies to avert the tragic incident,” the registrar regretted.

He went on to say that the lack of proper security arrangements by the administration constituted a violation of the fundamental right to life and liberty, guaranteed under Article 9 of the Constitution.

Moreover, insufficient arrangements and medical facilities in the hospital of the provincial headquarters resulted in further loss of life as the seriously injured were compelled to shift from the Civil Hospital to the Combined Military Hospital and other hospitals outside the province, the note said.

The post-disaster scenario is also not encouraging either, the registrar observed, saying it appeared the incident had been forgotten and no headway had been made; either in tracing the culprits or mobilising state resources to prevent such tragedies in future. The note also said that there was no evidence that the provincial government had taken any cognisance of the matter.

After going through the note, CJP Jamali ordered the court office to fix the matter before the court on Sept 20, issuing notices to the Balochistan chief secretary, advocate general and IGP.

Published in Dawn, September 1st, 2016