ISLAMABAD: A three-member bench of the Supreme Court will on Oct 5 resume suo motu hearing of a case relating to the 2014 Army Public School (APS) carnage in Peshawar.

The apex court also fixed Oct 9 for hearing an intra-court appeal of ex-minister Tallal Chaudhry against his disqualification over contempt of court.

The bench which will hear the carnage case is headed by Chief Justice Saqib Nisar and comprises Justice Faisal Arab and Justice Ijazul Ahsan.

The Supreme Court registrar office issued notices to the attorney general for Pakistan and advocate general for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa among others.

In the deadliest terror attack in the country’s history, 131 schoolchildren and 10 other people were killed when heavily armed militants stormed the school building on Dec 16, 2014.

Slates hearing of Tallal’s appeal against disqualification for Oct 9

The chief justice had taken the suo motu notice of the matter on April 19 when parents of the martyred children requested him to order a judicial inquiry into the carnage while he was on a visit to the Supreme Court’s Peshawar registry.

The parents had complained that some weeks before the APS carnage, the authorities concerned were alerted by the National Counter Terrorism Authority about a terrorist threat to attack an army-run educational institution, possibly the Peshawar APS. However, they said, no steps were taken to prevent the attack.

Subsequently, the apex court had ordered formation of a judicial commission on an application submitted by APS Martyrs Forum — led by mothers of the victims. The application requested the court to put pressure on the government to punish those involved in the attack and those who failed to protect the children.

The parents said they had been demanding justice for over three years now and had been putting forward their request for a judicial inquiry at different forums, but to no avail.

Tallal Chaudhry’s appeal

A five-member bench of the Supreme Court comprising CJP Saqib Nisar, Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Faisal Arab, Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Munib Akhtar will hear on Oct 9 the intra-court appeal filed by former state minister Tallal Chaudhry.

The apex court had on Aug 2 convicted Mr Chaudhry of contempt of court and barred him from contesting elections for the next five years.

Mr Chaudhry was charged for delivering contemptuous speeches against the superior court judges. He had urged PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif to oust ‘PCO idles’ from the apex court.

Published in Dawn, September 29th, 2018