LHC full bench dismisses Punjab govt’s appeal against release of Model Town probe report

LAHORE: A full bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday dismissed the Punjab government’s plea to set aside an order of a single-judge bench to make public the enquiry report of the 2014 Model Town killings.
Hearing the case, the full bench headed by Justice Abid Aziz Sheikh and comprising Justice Aminuddin Khan and Justice Shahbaz Rizvi observed that the matter will now be heard on a daily basis from October 2.
The Punjab government had filed an intra-court appeal (ICA) against the September 21 decision of Justice Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi ordering the release of the Model Town enquiry report written by LHC Justice Baqar Najafi.
Since the government’s plea has been dismissed, the matter of releasing the enquiry report still stands.
Earlier on Monday, the full bench set to hear the case was dissolved after Acting Chief Justice Yawar Ali, who was heading the bench, recused himself over ‘personal reasons’.
A two-member division bench comprising Justice Abdul Sami Khan and Justice Syed Shahbaz Ali Rizvi heard the government’s ICA on Monday and then referred it to the full bench.
The full bench was also set to hear several other petitions filed by victims of the Model Town killings. The new bench, headed by Justice Sheikh, accepted the petitioners’ pleas to take back their petitions.
On September 21, Justice Naqvi ordered the Punjab home secretary to make public the report on the Model Town killings and provide a copy to the families of those killed and injured in the 2014 incident.
The government in its appeal against the decision, challenged the jurisdiction of the single bench to give its decision on the report on the grounds that as many as eight identical petitions on the same matter were already pending before a full bench.
In the appeal, the government said it was neither asked by the single bench to file any reply nor was put on notice on the matter, adding that it was also not given any opportunity to explain its position on the case.