The Supreme Court (SC) will take up the federal government’s plea seeking an extension in the committee’s tenure probing the Faizabad sit-in, next week. The committee was scheduled to submit its report in the third week of January. On January 8, the commission investigating the Faizabad Interchange sit-in in Islamabad, sought a month extension from the Supreme Court (SC) to complete the probe. According to details, the federal government submitted a formal request to Supreme Court (SC), seeking extension to complete the probe and identify those who planned, financed, and supported the 2017 Faizabad sit-in. A three-member bench of the Supreme Court will take up the plea next week. The committee has so far summoned former ISI director-general Lt.General (retired) Faiz Hameed, former prime ministers Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Shehbaz Sharif and others. Earlier on Jan 5, former director general ISI retired Lt-Gen Faiz Hameed submitted a written response to the inquiry commission. The federal government had established this Faizabad commission, headed by retired Inspector General Akhtar Ali Shah, in response to the Supreme Court’s rejection of the Fact-Finding Committee report.

Constituted under Section 3 of the Pakistan Commission of Inquiry Act, 2017, the commission is led by Syed Akhtar Ali Shah, a former civil servant, who also served as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s police chief. It also comprises Tahir Alam Khan, also a former police officer, and Khushal Khan, an additional secretary at the Ministry of Interior. Back on November 08, 2017, Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) organized a sit-in at Faizabad interchange against the amendments in the Election Bill 2017, changing the word oath to declaration. The protesters demanded the resignation of Minister for Law and Justice Zahid Hamid to “protect the identity of the country”. As a result of the protest, the then PML-N government had to sack its law minister Zahid Hamid. The Supreme Court had taken suo motu notice of the sit-in on November 21, 2017. Later, a division bench led by Justice Qazi Faez Isa on February 6, 2019 unveiled its verdict in the sit-in case, criticizing the role of intelligence agencies in the saga. Soon after assuming office of the chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) in September this year, Justice Isa listed for hearing the petitions that had been filed against the SC’s February 2019 verdict. On Nov 1, the bench rejected the fact-finding committee formed by the government to investigate the matter and ordered it to form a commission of inquiry to unveil the mastermind behind the sit-in.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)