LAHORE: A Lahore High Court (LHC) division bench headed by Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Shamim Khan will take up on Monday petitions challenging the formation of a joint investigation team (JIT) on the Sahiwal incident and for the constitution of a judicial commission instead.

Mohammad Jalil, brother of Khalil who was gunned down along with his wife and a daughter in the Sahiwal ‘encounter’, challenged the formation of the JIT the other day, while another identical public interest petition by a lawyer landed in the court on Friday, raising the number of petitions on the issue to four.

All the petitioners have questioned impartiality of the JIT formed by the provincial government and expressed doubts over its capacity to hold the real culprits accountable. They submit that formation of a judicial commission is critical due to alleged non-seriousness and callous conduct of the government to provide justice to the victims.

The petitioners ask the court to set aside the JIT and order constitution of a judicial commission under Section 3 of the Punjab Tribunals of Inquiry Ordinance, 1969 or under Section 3 of the Pakistan Commissions of Inquiry Act, 2017 to dig out facts of the Sahiwal incident.

Published in Dawn, February 2nd, 2019