LAHORE: Justice Ali Zia Bajwa of the Lahore High Court on Wednesday rescued himself from the petitions of PTI senator Ijaz and former Governor Punjab Omar Sarfraz challenging jail trials of the May 9 cases against them.

Justice Bajwa who was sitting a division bench observed that he had already refused to hear matters relating to the May 9 riots for personal reasons.

The bench, therefore, forwarded the petitions to the acting chief justice with a request to fix them before any other bench.

The petitioners contended that the provincial government with an ulterior motive approved jail trials in the FIRs relating to the May 9 protests only to harass the suspects.

The petitioner stated that the trial courts also approved the decision of the government and started the jail trials. They asked the court to set aside the decision of the provincial government and the trial court for being unconstitutional.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024