Model Town killing report does not blame CM, claims minister

lahore — A full bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC) ordered the Punjab government to make public Justice Baqar Najafi’s report, compiled after a judicial inquiry into the 2014 Model Town incident, within 30 days. Following the court’s order, the provincial government released the report, say media reports on Tuesday.

At least 14 people were killed and 90 others injured in clashes between the police and workers of the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) as authorities moved to remove encroachments in front of Dr Tahirul Qadri’s house in Model Town on June 17, 2014.

Addressing a news conference in Lahore on Tuesday, Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah said the decision of making the report public was made on the directive of Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

He termed the report full of errors and said that no one was being blamed in the report, adding that there was not a single word written in the report that could link Shehbaz Sharif to the deadly incident.

“According to the report, I am blamed for ordering the removal of barricades outside the Model Town incident” said the minister and added that the report which was uploaded on the website of Directorate General Public Relations, could not be presented as a testimony.

The minister said no police officials, present at the incident’s venue, were being framed in the report. The law minister said the PAT did not present any evidence and the report was based on “false evidences”. “Therefore, I advised the chief minister against making the report public due to concerns of creating complications,” he added.

Earlier, the Punjab government had argued against issuing the report, saying it was “of a sensitive nature”.

The government’s counsel, advocate Khawaja Harris, had argued that the findings in terrorism cases

Provincial government to mull next step

are usually kept under wraps all over the world, and this case should not be an exception.

The prosecution, in its response, argued that the Punjab government’s refusal to release the report amounted to an obstruction of justice.

Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) lawyer barrister Ali Zafar said that the government was “providing cover to the perpetrators of the Model Town incident”, adding that the victims’ families wanted to know who ordered the police to use violence against them. Swayed by the PAT’s stance, the bench ordered that the report be made public within 30 days.

The provincial government will now decide its future strategy in a meeting, according to sources in the provincial advocate general’s (AG) office.

The meeting is expected to be attended by the AG, law secretary and home secretary, among others. The provincial government will also meet its legal team to weigh its legal options. — Agencies