A full bench of the Lahore High Court with a majority decision rejected the plea of Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) for summoning Nawaz Sharif, Shahbaz Sharif and other PML-N leaders in trial of Model Town killing incident before the Anti-terrorism Court (ATC).
The court also dismissed appeal of former inspector general of police Punjab Mushtaq Ahmad Sukhera challenging the decision to the effect of his summoning by the ATC in the complaint.
The majority verdict ruled that the order of non-summoning the respondents did not suffer from any illegality as the trial court examined all the witnesses the petitioner/complainant desired to produce and intended to rely upon, thus there was a compliance of provisions of Section 202 Code of Criminal Procedure (Cr.PC.). It said the statement of the complainant did not disclose ingredients essential for criminal conspiracy and abetment on the part of then prime minister and other respondents. "The allegations leveled in the private complaint are not based on direct knowledge derived from any individual but on conjectures and presumptions. Evidently, the respondents are not responsible for offence of abetment sought by the complainant," ruled the verdict.
It maintained that the allegations did not also make out a case of abetment, criminal conspiracy and criminal intimidation. "It was not a case of mere embellishment, it is an afterthought plea advanced by the petitioner/complainant and is based on motivation," the ruling said. "It is beyond the pale of controversy that the respondents could not be proceeded against without the complainant having made a prima facie case against them, that they hatched up conspiracy for commission of this occurrence. At least, what is alleged in the private complaint and by the complainant and witnesses in their cursory statements are not in line with the contents of written complaint," the majority verdict further ruled.
The verdict noted that the complainant boycotted investigations conducted by two Joint Investigation Teams (JITs) formed in the case as well as proceedings of one man inquiry tribunal of the high court.
The majority judges observed, "It may not be proper for this court (LHC) to enter into reasoning for non-summoning the respondents as accused at this point of time when no allegation is made against the respondents and proceeding against them on the basis of such complaint would be abuse of process of court." They ruled that the matter could not be remanded to the trial court for further enquiry in specified manner as the judge of the ATC applied his mind while recording order of non-summoning respondents as accused, therefore, it could not be said that the reasoning given for non-summoning the respondents as accused by the judge ATC was illegal and perverse.
The PAT had assailed the verdict of ATC to the extent of non-summoning then bureaucrats and parliamentarians of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) including former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif nominated as accused by the party in its complaint.