LAHORE: A Lahore High Court (LHC) full bench on Monday adjourned hearing of petitions against formation of the second joint investigation team (JIT) by the provincial government to probe 2014 Model Town incident due to unavailability of the Idara Minhajul Quran’s lawyers.

Justice Muhammad Qasim Khan, who heads the bench, expressed dismay over the absence of the lawyers and observed that on one hand, the complainant, the organisation, remained unrepresented in courts while on the other hand, it criticised the court for delaying the proceedings.

Khwaja Tariq Rahim and Azhar Siddique are the counsel for the Idara Minhajul Quran in the case.

During the Monday’s hearing, the junior associates of both the lawyers informed the bench that the counsel were not available in the city. They said Mr Rahim was scheduled to travel abroad for medical treatment while Mr Siddique had left for Islamabad. The bench deferred the hearing till Dec 2.

Justice Malik Shahzad Ahmad Khan and Justice Alia Neelum were the other members at the bench.

The government on Jan 3, 2019 had constituted the second JIT for a fresh probe into the Model Town carnage. However, on March 22, the full bench had suspended its notification on the petitions filed by Khurram Rafiq and other police officials facing a trial in the Model Town case.

Published in Dawn, November 26th, 2019