Model Town incident: LHC reserves verdict on plea to release inquiry report

Judicial report contains details about the killing of 14 PAT workers by police in Lahore

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday reserved its verdict on a petition seeking release of a report of judicial inquiry conducted by Justice Ali Baqar Najafi into the killings of Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) workers in Model Town Lahore.

As many as 14 PAT members had been killed on July 17, 2014 in police action against the party during an anti-encroachment operation outside the residence of party chief Dr Tahirul Qadri.

Arguing on behalf of the victims’ relatives, Barrister Syed Ali Zafar said that releasing the inquiry report was clearly a matter of public interest, and the government was bound under the law to give the required information to the general public.



He implored it was a case of fundamental rights guaranteed to the petitioners and to all members of the public. He said the high court, being the custodian of fundamental rights, had the constitutional obligation to pass direction to the government to make the report public.

The counsel pointed out that a judicial tribunal had been constituted for finding out facts and fixing responsibility on the perpetrators, adding that the chief justice had appointed Justice Najafi to hold the inquiry.

He stated that the report was in the government custody, but even after a lapse of three years, the government had been refusing to make it public.



He contended that legal heirs of the deceased persons were certainly aggrieved parties who had a right under Article 9-A of the Constitution as well as the Punjab Transparency and Right to Information Act, 2013 and Qanoon-i-Shahadat Order, 1984, to obtain a copy of Justice Najafi report.

Opposing the petition, Additional Advocate General Shan Gull argued that the report in question was only for the benefit of the government, and the government was not obliged to disclose it.

After hearing the arguments, the judge reserved the verdict on the petition.