LAHORE: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Friday turned down a request of the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) to shelve the hearing of its private complaint about 2014 Model Town incident till a decision by the Lahore High Court on the legitimacy of a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) made to reinvestigate the occurrence.

Advocate Chaudhry Naeemuddin argued on behalf of the PAT that the petitions by the accused persons against the JIT were still pending before a larger bench of the high court for several years. He said the JIT was formed to investigate the incident afresh. Therefore, he said, the trial proceedings on the private complaint should be deferred till a fresh inquiry report by the JIT.

He said the PAT wanted then chief minister Shehbaz Sharif and law minister Rana Sanaullah be put to trial along with the other accused persons.

Advocate Burhan Moazam Malik, the counsel for some of the accused, opposed the request and stated that the proceedings had been pending for the last nine years. He said the Supreme Court also directed the trial court conduct the hearing in the case twice a week.

Judge Arshad Javed dismissed the PAT plea and observed that it would not be appropriate to delay the proceedings pending for nine years.

The judge adjourned the hearing till Feb 6.

At least 10 people were killed and around 100 injured during an ‘anti-encroachment’ operation outside the Model Town residence of PAT chief Dr Tahirul Qadri on June 17, 2014.

Idara Minhajul Quran, a subsidiary of the PAT, filed a private complaint before the ATC against then prime minister Nawaz Sharif, chief minister Shehbaz Sharif and almost all federal and provincial cabinet of the PML-N besides officials of police and the district administration accusing them of killing its workers.

However, the trial court in 2017 dismissed the private complaint to the extent of the political personalities and started proceedings against the officials of police and the district administration nominated as accused by the complainant.

The previous government in Punjab led by the PTI had constituted a new JIT to reinvestigate the incident. However, several accused persons challenged the JIT before the LHC and got it stayed in 2019.

Former inspector general of police Mushtaq Sukhera, former DIG operations Rana Abdul Jabbar, former commissioner retired Capt Muhammad Usman and two other accused persons have been acquitted in the trial.

declared POs: An anti-terrorism court on Friday declared four leaders of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) proclaimed offenders (POs) in a May 9 case of burning the PML-N office in Model Town.

The absconding leaders are Murad Saeed, Azam Swati, Zubair Khan Niazi and Wasiq Qayyum Abbasi.

Judge Naveed Iqbal issued the order on an application by the investigating officer (IO) who said despite hectic efforts the suspects could not be arrested as they had gone into hiding for fear of arrest.

He said non-bailable arrest warrants had also been issued against the suspects but they failed to surrender to the law.

Many PTI leaders have already been declared POs in the May 9 cases of attacking the Jinnah House, torching police vehicles and attacking Askari Tower.

Separately, the judge allowed post-arrest bail to eight suspects in the Askari Tower attack case.

The suspects include Muhammad Ahmad Qazi, Muhammad Umar, Sameer Beg, Muhamamd Zaigham, Raees Ahmad, Muhamamd Khalid, Wasim Zaman and Elvin Masih.

Published in Dawn, February 3rd, 2024