A Lahore High Court full bench on Tuesday directed the government to provide forthwith the Model Town to heirs of the people killed or injured in the 2014 incident besides making it public within 30 days. The Punjab government implemented the orders within hours instead of challenging it before the Supreme Court.
The consensus judgment announced by the three-judge bench, however, ruled that the disclosure of the inquiry report shall have no effect on the fate/outcome of ongoing trial proceedings relating to the Model Town incident. Justice Abid Aziz Sheikh, author of the judgment, read out operative part of the 101-page decision as the court was jam-packed with lawyers from government and the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT). Justice Syed Shahbaz Ali Rizvi and Justice Qazi Muhammad Amin Ahmad were the other members of the bench.
The bench dismissed three identical intra-court appeals of the government and two cops facing trial in the Model Town case and upheld the impugned decision of a single bench. "In our view, the rule of procedural impropriety is not only meant for administrative decisions but same also applies to judicial proceedings, perhaps with more intensity," the bench observed. "Though, we have found that learned single bench erred in law, by not referring the petition to the full bench, however, at this stage, it will be an exercise in futility to remand the case back to the single bench," said the bench.
Rejecting an argument of the government that disclosure of the report may lead to public disorder, the bench observed that it was not permissible to restrain right to information or freedom of expression merely on the basis of speculative possibility of harm or prejudice to public order. "The appellants have not shown the real or substantial risk of harm to public order from disclosure of report which will be beyond more than ordinary maintenance of law and order situation," the verdict said. The bench ruled that right to information and access to information in all matters of public importance is indisputably a fundamental right guaranteed under the Constitution.
"The people of Pakistan have a right to know every public act, everything that is done in public way, by their public functionaries and chosen representatives. People are entitled to know the particulars of every public transaction, acquire information in all matters of public importance and to disseminate it," the bench ruled. "It enables people to contribute on debate on social and moral issues and matter of public importance. Without information, a democratic electorate cannot make responsible judgments about its representatives," the verdict added.
The bench also expressed concern over some of the language used in the government's appeal regarding the single judge who announced the impugned judgment. The bench said the words used in the memorandum of appeal were not only inappropriate but they may also amount to contempt of court in more than one way. "We have also noted that the appeal was drafted by government pleader who, being a law officer, is expected to be well conversant with norms of administration of justice and language to be used in pleadings," the bench observed.
The bench said they exercised judicial restraint in view of explanation tendered by counsel for the government, however, deprecated the language and expected the appellant to be more careful in future in choice of words in pleadings. Concluding the judgment, the bench directed the government to immediately provide the report to heirs of Model Town incident's victims and release it for masses within 30 days.
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