Model Town incident: PAT team fails to get FIR registered

No duty officer was present at the station to approve the registration of case as per LHC verdict

LAHORE: Even after Lahore High Court’s (LHC) verdict to uphold a session court’s decision to register an FIR against Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) top leadership in connection with the June 17 Model Town incident, a team of Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) lawyers has failed to get the FIR registered.

The team of PAT lawyers – led by Minhajul Quran’s counsel Mansoorur Rehman Afridi – arrived at Faisal Town police station on Wednesday with the LHC order in hand. However, no duty officer was present at the station to approve the registration of the FIRs. The daily register and FIR book were also missing and only a head constable was on general duty.

“We have been asking to register the FIR for one hour but there is no one present,” a PAT lawyer said.

Sources said the police station had been ‘abandoned’ by its officials since the LHC upheld the sessions court’s decision to register an FIR against 21 federal and provincial leaders including Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif.

When contacted, SHO Faisal Town Police Station Sharif Sindhu said he was not at the police station and because he was on leave. However, leave application for the officer could not be confirmed. “The police are currently seeking legal advice for the case,” he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 28^th, 2014.