LAHORE: An anti-terrorism court has acquitted retired Capt Muhammad Usman, then district coordination officer of Lahore, in the 2014 Model Town incident wherein at least 14 people were killed and over 100 injured.

Mr Usman, now Lahore commissioner, had filed an application under section 265-K of CrPC before the court, seeking his acquittal in the trial proceedings on a private complaint filed by Idara Minhajul Quran, a subsidiary of the Pakistan Awami Party (PAT).

Mr Usman was accuised of attended a meeting where the alleged conspiracy to launch an operation to remove barriers and hurdles placed outside the residence of PAT chief Dr Tahirul Qadri in Model Town.

In his verdict, ATC-III Presiding Judge Ejaz Ahmad Buttar observes that the fact of the alleged conspiracy and attendance of the petitioner has already been negated and not accepted by the trial court in its order of Feb 7, 2017.

He says there remains no allegation against the petitioner as per the contents of the private complaint.

“I have gone through the contents of the private complaint, it has never been the assertion of the complainant in the private complaint,” the judge adds.

The judge notes that the presence of the petitioner (Mr Usman) is neither alleged by the complainant in the complaint, nor in his testimony.

“I have also gone through the statements of 19 injured/eyewitnesses, they have also not alleged that the petitioner was present at the place of occurrence. Not a single word has been uttered by them against the present petitioner in their depositions/examination chiefs,” the judge maintains in his verdict.

He rules that there is no probability of the accused/petitioner being convicted of the offences mentioned in the private complaint as there is no sufficient incriminating material on record which could enable this court to proceed further with the trial of the petitioner.

A prosecutor had opposed the acquittal application, saying until and unless the remaining prosecution evidence was recorded, order for the acquittal of the petitioner would not serve ends of justice.

Judge Buttar observes that this argument is not convincing as the whole cursory evidence produced by the complainant side and recorded, was discarded by then trial judge in 2017.

“In view of the above discussion, the application in hand is accepted and petitioner Capt (retired) Muhammad Usman is acquitted of the charges,” the judge concludes the verdict.

On June 17, 2014, at least 14 people were killed and 100 others injured when police opened fire to disperse protesting PAT activists during an ‘anti-encroachment’ operation outside the residence of its chairman Dr Qadri.

The PAT had filed a private complaint before an anti-terrorism court against then prime minister Nawaz Sharif, then chief minister Shahbaz Sharif and almost all federal and provincial cabinet of PML-N, besides officials of police and district administration, accusing them of killing its workers.

However, the trial court in its 2017 order dismissed the private complaint to the extent of the political personalities.

TLP: An anti-terrorism court on Tuesday acquitted 40 workers of Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) in a case of holding violent protests and clashes with police in 2021.

Baghbanpura police had registered the FIR against the accused persons.

The court acquitted the TLP workers after the prosecution failed to establish its charges against them.

Published in Dawn, April 20th, 2022