ISLAMABAD: The Minhajul Quran International has approached the Supreme Court with a plea to allow the trial court hearing the Model Town case to summon the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leadership, including former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his brother Shahbaz Sharif.

A director of the Minhajul Quran International, Muhammad Jawad Hamid, moved the petition before the Supreme Court on Saturday through his counsel Advocate Mazhar Iqbal Sidhu, challenging the Sept 26, 2018 order of the Lahore High Court.

The June 17, 2014 violent clash between the Punjab Police and members and activists of the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) had resulted in the death of 10 persons.

Petitioner contends that sufficient material is available to connect the respondents with the crime

In his petition, the applicant pleaded before the court to order the trial court hearing the case to summon Nawaz Sharif, Shahbaz Sharif, Hamza Shahbaz Sharif, former Punjab law minister Rana Sanaullah, former railways minister Khawaja Saad Rafique, former foreign minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif, former information minister Pervez Rashid, former water and power minister Abid Sher Ali, former interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, ex-personal secretary to Punjab CM Syed Tauqeer Shah, former interior secretary retired Maj Azam Suleman and Lahore’s ex-commissioner, Rashid Mahmood Langrial.

The petition pleaded the respondents prima facie were guilty of the offences of macabre incident and hence summoning them to face trial was necessary in the interest of justice.

The victims and families of the bereaved persons had been adversely affected by the impugned order of the high court, it added.

The petition contended that sufficient material was available on record to connect the respondents prima facie with the commission of the crime.

The petitioner argued that it could not be ignored that 10 innocent persons lost their lives in the incident and more than 61 others sustained injuries.

The petition also questioned why midnight was chosen to carry out the operation for removal of barriers around the central office of Minhajul Quran International and heavy machines were used amid heavy deployment of police. The operation continued for 12 hours and was also covered by the electronic media, the petition contended.

Published in Dawn, October 21st, 2018