A full bench of the Lahore High Court on Wednesday showed displeasure over the absence of Advocate General Punjab in proceedings against a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) formed by the government to hold a fresh probe into the Model Town killings incident. The bench headed by Justice Muhammad Qasim Khan observed that prima facie the conduct of the principal law officer tantamount to contempt of court as he had also skipped the last hearing.
Additional Advocate General, Mushtaq Mohal told the bench that the AGP was unable to appear due to an unavoidable engagement. He requested the bench for more time to file reply of the government on the matter. Justice Qasim Khan reminded the law officer that judicial work was supposed to be more important than any other engagement.
The law officer urged the bench to defer the proceedings to wait for a decision on similar petitions pending before the Supreme Court. The bench accepted the request and gave two-month time to the province to get a decision by the apex court and directed the registrar office to fix the matter again after summer vacations and extended its stay against the functioning of JIT.
The new JIT was constituted on January 3, 2019, for a fresh probe into the Model Town carnage. However, a LHC bench with a majority decision of two to one on March 22 had suspended the notification.
Khurram Rafiq and other police officials facing trial in the Model Town case had challenged the legitimacy of the new JIT. They argued that the Code of Criminal Procedure and Anti Terrorism Act 1997 did not allow fresh investigation in a case after submission of challan and framing of charges.
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