LAHORE: The Lahore High Court was told on Tuesday that the Punjab government was wrongly claiming that release of the Justice Najafi report on the Model Town incident will jeopardise trial of any person or obstruct administration of justice.

In his concluding arguments supporting the release of the report as also ordered by a single bench, Barrister Syed Ali Zafar stated before a full bench that the argument taken by the government was totally absurd, had not backing by any law rather based on mere assumptions.

The full bench headed by Justice Abid Aziz Sheikh is seized with an intra-court appeal of the provincial government against a single bench’s decision about publication of the inquiry report.

Barrister Zafar represents heirs of those killed or injured in the Model Town incident and argued that instead the inquiry report would be an aid and tool for ensuring that justice was done in cases where government itself was involved.

He pointed out that the report was not binding upon any person and was for people’s information, as it was for the investigators/prosecutors as well as the trial court to rely or to not on its contents. It was wrong to suggest that the inquiry report would prejudice anyone, he added.

At one point in the arguments, Justice Sheikh observed that under the latest federal law, Pakistan Commissions of Enquiry Act 2017, the commission had a right to publish every report.

The counsel argued that under the Punjab Transparency and Right to Information Act 2013, “secrecy” was not allowed in matters of public importance and the report of inquiry into the Model Town incident should be published in public interest.

Referring to various UN Conventions, Barrister Zafar said right to information was mother of all fundamental rights and if people did not know the truth they could not make informed decisions regarding their rulers.

He further said the right to know was also the foundation for transparency and accountability of government officials and since the Najafi report could unearth various facts, the report had to be made public.

“The matter is now in the hands of the court and the judgement in this case could be a game changer for the jurisprudence,” he said, while closing his arguments.

The bench would resume hearing on Wednesday (today) with arguments of other lawyers in the case.

Published in Dawn, November 22nd, 2017