LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Monday directed the Punjab government to submit a complete record of those personnel of the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) who took part in the Sahiwal ‘encounter’ and warned it against any attempt to tamper with it.

A two-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Sardar Mohammad Shamim Khan is hearing multiple petitions against the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) probing the incident and for the constitution of a judicial commission on the matter.

Assisted by federal and provincial law officers, JIT head Additional IG Syed Ijaz Hussain Shah, DIG (operations) Punjab Jawad Ahmad Dogar, DIG (legal) Abdul Rab and other police officers were present in the court.

The petitions were filed by Mohammad Jalil, brother of victim Khalil who was gunned down along with his wife and a teenage daughter, Advocate Mian Asif Mahmood and others.

Petitioners claim Sahiwal JIT is trying to favour real culprits

During the hearing, the petitioners’ counsel argued that the court had the jurisdiction to constitute a judicial commission. They said the JIT had failed to collect complete evidence and was trying to favour the real culprits. They pointed out that only five personnel had been arrested while at least 16 personnel of the CTD had carried out the fake encounter.

However, the chief justice observed that the high court was no longer empowered to constitute a judicial commission as the power rested with the federal government. He repeatedly asked the government law officers about the name of the officer who ordered the Sahiwal operation. He also admonished them for not coming up with a clear answer.

Finally, the provincial law officer told the court that SP Jawad Qamar had ordered the operation. The officer had been suspended along with others, he added.

DIG Abdul Rab told the court that the JIT visited the place of the ‘encounter’, recorded statements of eyewitnesses and requisitioned record of all videos. He pointed out that the identification parade of arrested personnel could not be held as the complainant/petitioner had not joined the investigation so far.

Barrister Ehtesham Ameeruddin, the counsel for the complainant, argued that the identification parade was not required in the case as all the personnel involved in the killings were not unknown to the police. He said the JIT should have a complete record of the CTD personnel involved in the encounter.

The bench directed the complainant and other petitioners to submit evidence, whatever they had, to the JIT or bring that to the court at the next hearing if the team did not entertain them.

The chief justice directed the provincial government to furnish complete details of the CTD personnel who participated in the operation with a warning of serious consequences if the record was found to be tampered with.

Meanwhile, a report submitted by the JIT head stated that the previous directives of the LHC had been conveyed to all regional and district police officers that no Sahiwal-like incident should be repeated in future.

The court adjourned the hearing till Feb 7 and directed the federal law officer to submit a reply of the government to the effect of an application moved by a petitioner for the formation of a judicial commission.

Trust deficit

In what appeared to be a breakthrough, the Punjab government on Monday arranged a meeting between the family of Khalil and JIT head Additional IG Ijaz Hussain Shah in order to bridge a trust deficit.

The meeting was arranged by Shahbaz Gil, a spokesperson for Chief Minister Usman Buzdar, at the CM House where new lawyer for the victims’ family Ehtisham Ameeruddin was also present.

Jalil Ahmad and Jamil Ahmad represented the victims’ family while senior PTI leader Ijaz Chaudhry represented his party in the meeting.

Earlier, Khalil’s family had refused to be part of the JIT investigations, expressing their reservations of partiality.

After the meeting, Shahbaz Gil and Ehtisham told the media said that the Punjab government had assured the family of Khalil that the JIT would also investigate the entire chain of command of the CTD which had been removed from their posts in the wake of the Sahiwal incident.

Answering a question, they said the JIT would grill all senior police officers of the CTD, including its former head Tahir Rai, at a later stage.

“A crucial meeting between Khalil’s family and the JIT head was convened on Monday to bridge trust deficit between the two sides in order to ensure impartial investigations into the Sahiwal incident,” Mr Ehtisham said, adding that the JIT head had given assurance that the senior police officers would also be held accountable if found involved in the incident.

An initial meeting had been arranged between the family of Khalil and the JIT head, he said, adding that Jalil and his brother would appear before the JIT again on Tuesday to record their statements.

Published in Dawn, February 5th, 2019