May 9 violence: KP govt sends another letter to PHC for probe commission

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government, through the Home Department, has once again written a letter to the Peshawar High Court (PHC) requesting it to form a judicial commission to probe the May 9, 2023 violence that erupted after the arrest of former prime minister Imran Khan.

Sources said that the letter addressed to the PHC Chief Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim to appoint a judicial commission comprising judges of the high court to conduct the investigations into the mayhem, which saw attacks on the army installations and government properties.

The sources said the provincial Home Department took the plea in the letter that the court had turned down the request of the provincial government for the formation of the judicial commission on the grounds that proper procedure had not been adopted for the purpose. The letter, the sources said, was against being sent under the West Pakistan Tribunals of Inquiry Ordinance 1969.

At a recent cabinet meeting in Islamabad, the chief minister had directed the relevant officials to write another letter to the high court through the proper forum.

The sources said that this time the proper procedure had been adopted for sending the letter to the high court.

They said that the previous letter had been sent by the provincial government through the KP advocate general, which was against the rules, therefore, now the government was sending the letter through the Home Department.

It may be mentioned that the KP government has sent a letter to the PHC chief justice for the formation of the judicial commission to conduct a probe into the May 9 riots. The high court had turned down the request, saying that the letter was not sent through the proper forum. After the refusal of the high court, the provincial government had announced that it would appoint a retired government officer to conduct the probe. However, the chief minister was supposed to give approval for the purpose.

The chief minister at a recent cabinet meeting in Islamabad directed the relevant officials to send the letter again to the high court by following the correct procedure.

The government had accused the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf of staging the attacks on the army installations and government properties during protests after the arrest of former prime minister Imran Khan in connection with a case pertaining to alleged corruption. However, the PTI leadership, particularly Imran Khan has always denied the charge and demanded proper investigation to determine the facts.