Quetta hospital carnage: Apex court dismisses plea against judicial commission

Says departments were not taking the matter seriously

ISLAMABAD: The apex court has dismissed the Balochistan government’s plea to review its October 6 order under which a judicial commission was constituted to investigate a suicide attack on the premises of a Quetta hospital.

More than 70 people, mostly lawyers, were killed in the attack. On October 6, the Supreme Court appointed Justice Qazi Faez Isa as the head of a judicial commission (JC) tasked with completing the investigation into the attack within 30 days. The commission is set to begin its investigation today (Monday).

News of the appointment came after the counsels for the victims’ families expressed no-confidence in the current investigation team.

On Wednesday, the SC’s three-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali, took up the review petition of the provincial government, which had raised objections to the one-man judicial body. In its review petition, the provincial government pinpointed a serious trust deficit on Justice Isa’s appointment.

“As evident from the poignant letter written by Justice Qazi Faez Isa soon after [August 8] incidents, the judge is very deeply and painfully affected by the martyrdom attained and injuries suffered by the lawyers of whom many his lordship also refers to as friends,” reads the petition.

The Balochistan government also objected to not being given any prior notice or adequate opportunity to be heard in this matter.

Appearing on behalf of the provincial government, Khawaja Haris expressed apprehension that if the commission held open proceedings then it would affect the investigation.  However, the CJ observed that it is discretion of the court to make the commission’s findings public.

Justice Jamali observed that the commission was formed because departments concerned were not taking the matter seriously. Later, on the court’s permission, the Balochistan government withdrew its review petition, which was dismissed by the bench.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 19^th, 2016.