Sahiwal case judicial inquiry report presented to LHC

LAHORE: A Lahore High Court two-member bench received a sealed report of a judicial inquiry conducted by a judicial magistrate into the Sahiwal killings while it turned down a plea to constitute a judicial commission to hold the probe.

The bench headed by Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Shamim Khan observed that no law authorised the court to form a judicial commission. Muhammad Jalil, brother of Khalil, who was gunned down along with his wife and a teenage daughter in the Sahiwal ‘encounter,’ sought constitution of a judicial commission. To an argument of the petitioner’s counsel, the chief justice pointed out that the judicial commission on the Model Town incident was formed by the provincial government.

The chief justice asked the counsel to present before the bench if there was any law empowering the court to form a judicial commission. The federal and provincial law officers also opposed the plea for the constitution of the commission. After hearing the arguments, the bench dismissed the plea.

The bench had on Feb 14 ordered a judicial inquiry into the Sahiwal killings and the sessions judge had appointed civil judge-cum-judicial magistrate Shakeel Goraya to hold an inquiry within 30 days.