ISLAMABAD: Supreme Court (SC) Justice Asif Saeed Khosa on Tuesday dismissed a request to omit observations against former interior minister Chaudhry Nisar from the Quetta inquiry commission’s report.
On August 8, 2016, a suicide bombing in Civil Hospital, Quetta, killed 73 persons, the majority of them lawyers hailing from various districts of Balochistan. The Supreme Court of Pakistan ordered the constitution of an inquiry commission on October 6 during a suo motu case and nominated Justice Qazi Faiz Isa to the one member commission.
One of the observations of the report was that Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan met with Maulana Muhammad Ahmed Ludhianvi, head of Sipah-e-Sahaba, Millat-e-Islamia and Ahle-Sunnat Wal Jammat on October, 21st 2016.
“He met the head of a banned organisation, widely reported in the media with his photograph, but still denied doing so. Accepted demands of the proscribed group regarding the CNICs, inexplicably delayed in proscribing terrorist organisations, and did not proscribe a well-known terror organisation,” the report read.
Rejecting Attorney General (AG) Ashtar Ausaf’s request to omit the observations against Nisar for being “person specific” and “uncalled for”, in the written judgement released on Tuesday, Justice Khosa wrote, “The said findings […] are based upon observations of the commission and are not to be treated as findings of this court”.
In the written judgement Justice Khosa further states that assurance was given to the court by Ashtar Ausaf that recommendations of the committee report would be implemented by the provincial and federal governments. To that end, the judgement stated, “According to [Attorney General Ashtar Ausaf], some aspects of the recommendations made by the inquiry commission are being implemented immediately whereas the other areas are being attended to in all earnest”.
In his written order, Justice Khosa also disposed of the application of a member of Hazara community, requesting to be made a party to the suo motu case on the grounds that the Balochistan and the federal government had given a guarantee in the court to protect the community.
“We expect the federal and provincial governments to continue their efforts in that regard and to leave no stone unturned for securing their lives, legal rights and legitimate interests,” Justice Khosa stated in the written judgement.
