The Supreme Court's (SC) Lahore registry on Saturday issued notices to the Punjab government, Punjab advocate general and the prosecution department to submit responses on whether it is legally permissible to form a new joint investigation team (JIT) when a previous one has already submitted its report in the Model Town case.

A two-member SC bench, headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, was hearing an appeal filed by a teenaged girl, Bisma, whose mother had been killed in the Model Town incident. Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) Chief Tahirul Qadri was also in court for the hearing.

Qadri said that the report released by the earlier JIT — which had been formed by the previous Punjab government — could not be trusted as members of the former administration were suspects in the case.

He claimed that his party's witnesses could not appear before the JIT due to government pressure, and alleged that the JIT had recorded one-sided witness accounts and could not be called neutral.

The CJP asked him if it was legally possible to form a JIT when a previous one had already submitted a report. The PAT chief said that there was precedent of a JIT being formed more than once.

The PAT chief also told the court that the prosecution lawyer had withdrawn himself from the case due to daily hearings, which were being held on the SC's orders. He requested the bench to hold trial twice a week instead of hearing the case on a daily basis. The plea was accepted.