PAT Chairman Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri has said that the Punjab Home Secretary has committed a contempt of court by refusing to abide by the LHC judgment of handing over the report of the Justice Najfi Commission to the family members of the Model Town tragedy. He said that we would file a contempt of court application on September 23. He asked the bureaucrats not to destroy their careers for the absconders, adding that they have no future. He said that the Home Secretary Office refused to hand over the copy of the Justice Najfi Commission report despite receiving the certified copy of the LHC judgment, which constitutes an open contempt and a joke with the law and the Constitution.

Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri said that the Sharif brothers who have been violating the court decisions with abandon and their supporters, allies and followers will have to be taught a lesson in accepting the sanctity of law. He said that the Punjab government’s decision to go into an appeal against the LHC verdict is to declare an open war on the oppressed, the poor and the orphans. He said that the Punjab rulers say that they had the report authored for themselves, asking whether it was a dish that was ordered by them for themselves. He asked whether the Punjab Chief Minister said at the time of setting up the judicial commission on June 17, 2014 that he was doing so for himself only. He said that the judicial commission report is bound to be released. Howsoever efforts the rulers may make to stop its public release, they will only be pocketing more insults and humiliations.

The PAT Chairman made these remarks while addressing a hurriedly called meeting of the central Core Committee yesterday. He said that the LHC judgment and refusal of the Punjab government to publish the report has proven that the rulers are directly involved in the Model Town massacre.

Dr Qadri said that the Lahore High Court gave its verdict in the light of Article 19-A. stating that under the same law, every citizen of the country has a constitutional right to request the public authority for information. He said that it was not citizens but the family members of the martyrs who knocked at the door of the court and prayed for access to the judicial commission report. He said that they are the affected party who buried their near and dear ones in the graves.

The PAT Chairman further said that the struggle for justice will continue unabated till complete justice is administered. He said that starting from the top leadership of the party to the worker, everyone is committed to this cause and is ready to pay any price in the process. He hoped that the court will take the people to task who have become a hurdle in the way of release of the judicial commission report and that they will be summoned for contempt of court.

He asked the Punjab CM to tell if he is not involved in the Model Town tragedy, why is he sitting on the report and not allowing its publication? He said that at the time of establishing the commission, Shahbaz Sharif had publicly pledged that he would implement the contents of the report wholly and mete out exemplary punishment to those found guilty of massacre. He went to the extent of saying that if a finger was raised against him, he would take no time to resign from his position but he has now chosen to declare a war on the oppressed, the poor and the orphan, Dr Qadri concluded.