LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday expressed concern over vacant posts of Punjab chief information commissioner (CIC) and other key posts lying vacant at the commission, and sought an explanation from the provincial government on the matter.

A full bench headed by Justice Abid Aziz Sheikh took note of the situation while hearing an intra-court appeal moved by the government assailing a decision to make Model Town inquiry report public.

Contradicting one of the government’s arguments about availing the first available remedy under the law, Advocate Azhar Siddique argued that the first remedy in the form of the information commission was inadequate to address the grievances of people affected by the Model Town incident. He is representing some of the heirs of the victims and defended the order passed by a single bench for publication of Justice Najafi report into the 2014 firing incident.

The lawyer pointed out that the information commission was not even fully functional as posts of its chief commissioner and two members had been lying vacant for a long time. He said the government recently appointed its loyalist, former MNA Naseer Ahmad Bhutta, as the chief on political grounds. However, he also resigned after some days owing to criticism and litigation.

Advocate Siddique argued that the alternate remedy had become ineffective due to the dysfunctional information commission. He said the home secretary had already dismissed an application of the victims for provision of the report. Therefore, the petitioners were left with no option but to approach the high court for provision of the report, he said while concluding his arguments.

Taking note of the situation, Justice Syed Shahbaz Ali Rizvi, a member of the bench, observed that the government itself made the alternate remedy inadequate. The bench directed the government to submit a separate reply about the unavailability of the CIC and other posts.

Earlier, another counsel from the victims side, Khwaja Ahmad Tariq Rahim, also closed his arguments. And so did Azam Nazir Tarar and Ali Zia Bajwa on behalf of two policemen facing trial in the Model Town killing case.

The bench adjourned further hearing till Nov 24 and directed government’s counsel Khwaja Harris to come up with his rebuttal.

Published in Dawn, November 23rd, 2017