A five-member Supreme Court bench on Wednesday wrapped up a petition requesting a new joint investigation team (JIT) to probe the 2014 Model Town incident and ordered the Punjab government to reconstitute a probe team to investigate the case.
The larger bench ─ constituted specially to debate a legal point today ─ comprising Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar, and Justices Asif Saeed Khosa, Sheikh Azmat Saeed, Faisal Arab and Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel, decided to hold a hearing to determine whether a new JIT could be formed to probe the Model Town case which is still pending judgement. Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) chief Tahirul Qadri was among those who presented their arguments on the matter in court today.
“My lawyers are present for legal questions,” he told the bench. “I will only present facts before the court.”
“No case is political for the court,” the chief justice remarked, ordering the lawyer behind the PAT chief to sit down.
Justice Khosa said that all statements would have to be recorded again.“The trial has now come back to zero,” Qadri said. He added that after the new government was elected and the larger bench constituted, the victims were more hopeful about the chances of an independent probe.
The trial of the accused persons is ongoing in the anti-terrorism court, he said, adding that there is a trial on both the cases together.“What FIR was the JIT formed on the basis of?” Justice Khosa asked, to which Qadri responded that the police first formed the JIT on their own FIR.
“Later it was formed on our FIR,” Qadri said. “The judicial commission gave its findings on the matter too.”The commission report, which was made public a few months ago, brought a lot of facts to light, the PAT chief said, telling the chief justice that of the 157 witnesses in the case, 23 had recorded their statements already “It is important to take an overview of the situation before the incident as well, to know why it happened,” Qadri pointed out. Source: dawn.com
Thursday, May 7, 2026
