Judicial commission on F-8 attack concludes its proceedings

The commission recommends shifting the courts from the congested F-8 Markaz.

ISLAMABAD: The judicial commission constituted to probe the gun-and-bomb attack on the city district courts in Islamabad’s sector F-8 concluded its proceedings on Tuesday.

The report will be submitted to Chief Justice Islamabad High Court (IHC) next week.

Sources told The Express Tribune that the commission held some police officials responsible for the attack that took place on March 3 and also recommended shifting the courts away from the congested F-8 Markaz.

The commission, headed by Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui, started its proceedings on March 12.

In the first phase, the commission had recorded the statements of judicial officers, lawyers, court staff, and citizens who were present at the time of the attack.

In the second phase, the commission examined the reports submitted by the Islamabad Chief Commissioner, Inspector General (IG) Islamabad Police, and Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), and recorded the statements of all officials.

Earlier, the capital police had claimed that Judge Rafaqat Awan was killed when his body guard fired his gun mistakenly. However, the guard Babar Hussain denied the allegations when he was produced before the Anti Terrorism Court (ATC) last week. Currently he is on judicial remand.

Background

On March 3, two suicide bombers blew themselves up in the congested city courts premises and killed 12 people including Judge Rafaqat Awan.

The Supreme Court has taken suo motu notice of the incident and the case was adjourned till April 10.