The Punjab Government on Saturday demanded that the Lahore High Court (LHC) discard the single-member bench's decision to make public a contentious inquiry report regarding the Model Town tragedy.
On June 17, 2014, as many as 14 people were killed and 100 others injured when police attacked the residence of Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) chief Dr Tahirul Qadri in Model Town during an ‘anti-encroachment’ operation.
On September 21, Justice Mazahir Ali Akbar Naqvi of the LHC had directed the Punjab secretary to take action and make the judicial inquiry report compiled by Justice Ali Baqar Najafi on the incident public. He had been hearing a petition filed by the families of victims of the 2014 tragedy.
"Making the report public is the first step towards justice," Qadri had said on Thursday.
Speaking to reporters, the PAT chief added that the LHC's orders would renew hope among the relatives of Model Town affectees.
"We waited almost three years but not one culprit was caught," the PAT chief said.
However, in an intra-court appeal filed by Advocate General Punjab Shakeelur Rehman Khan, the Punjab government said that the single-judge bench that heard the case did not provide the government the opportunity to properly present its reasons for keeping the report secret.
The appeal alleged that the judgement was biased and was passed in a hurry and thus should be discarded.
In a separate appeal, the families of the victims demanded that Chief Minister of Punjab Shahbaz Sharif, the chief secretary of the province and the home secretary should be held in contempt for failing to make the report public despite the court's orders.
