Sana, Tauqir appear before tribunal

LAHORE: Punjab former law minister Rana Sanaullah and chief minister’s ex-principal secretary Dr Tauqir Shah on Thursday appeared before the single-judge tribunal, probing the Model Town killings, along with an unnecessary crowd of party workers. A large number of PML-N workers, including members of Muslim Students Federation (MSF), had already gathered at the high court before the arrival of Sanaullah and Dr Shah. A big gathering of lawyers also accorded a warm welcome to them. Security was tightened as well. Both Sanaullah and Shah requested Justice Ali Baqar Najafi to allow them time for submitting their reply. They pleaded that they wanted to make their submissions in writing. The tribunal allowed their request and directed them to file duly sworn affidavits regarding the facts and circumstances of the incident by June 30. The Punjab chief secretary also appeared before the tribunal to explain change in the bureaucracy including posts of IGP, DCO and other police officers prior to the Model Town incident. He justified the changes and termed them routine transfers and postings. PML-N workers throng high court The tribunal summoned the home secretary, the Lahore commissioner and the ex-CCPO (Shafiq Ahmad Gujjar) on next hearing. It further ordered to summon injured persons/patients, who were admitted to Jinnah Hospital, for recording their statements. It directed the CCPO to ensure appearance of the injured persons on June 30. Medical officers of Jinnah, Services, Sir Ganga Ram and Lahore General hospitals were also directed to appear along with complete autopsy reports of the deceased and medico-legal reports of the injured. Punjab IGP Mushtaq Sukhera requested the tribunal for exemption from personal appearance with an undertaking to appear whenever required by the tribunal. Justice Najafi allowed his request, however, directed him to depute some other responsible officer of equal status and competency to attend the proceedings. Earlier, the IGP told the tribunal that Iqbal, son of Muhammad Asif, killed in the incident, was detained by the police and later released on June 22. On the previous hearing, the tribunal had directed the police to trace the whereabouts of allegedly missing Iqbal. Published in Dawn, June 27th, 2014