Court moved against JIT on Sahiwal incident

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court has been requested to stop the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) from probing Sahiwal incident and to constitute a judicial commission to do the job instead.

Muhammad Jalil, brother of Khalil killed along with his wife and a teenage daughter in an alleged encounter, challenged the formation of the JIT through a writ petition. The petitioner, through his counsel, submitted that after the ‘fake’ encounter, a false FIR had been registered to label the victims of the incident as terrorists.

However, another FIR was lodged against the personnel of the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) following a protest launched by the citizens against the brutal killings of innocent persons.

He stated that even in the second FIR, the facts had been distorted to give margin to the real culprits to escape conviction. He pleaded that since the high-ups of law enforcement agencies were involved in the killings, the JIT made by the government is not in a capacity to reach a just decision.

He said ministers of the government had been changing their statements on the incident that showed their connivance or ill-will regarding the dispensation of justice to the victims’ family. Jalil contended that no recovery has been made so far from the arrested personnel of the CTD, which reflected apathy on part of the JIT and the level of favour being extended to the culprits.

He stated the JIT had also failed to provide even a copy of police file to him despite repeated requests. He argued that formation of a judicial commission was critical owing to non-seriousness of the government to provide justice to the victims.

The petitioner asked the court issue an order for the constitution of a judicial commission under section 3 of Punjab Tribunals of Inquiry Ordinance 1969 or under section 3 of Pakistan Commissions of Inquiry Act 2017 to dig out facts of the Sahiwal incident. In the meantime, he urged that court to declare the formation of the JIT illegal and restrain it from investigating the matter.