Supreme Court orders APS attack report to be public
The Supreme Court ordered on Friday the report into the Army Public School Peshawar attack to be made public.
Over 140 children and school staffers were gunned down in an attack on an army-run school in Peshawar on December 16, 2014. The attack was claimed by the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan.
In July, the judicial commission formed to investigate the attack had submitted a 3,000-page inquiry report in the court. It consisted of statements of 101 witnesses and 31 police and other officials of law enforcement agencies. The report was prepared by Justice Muhammad Ibrahim Khan of the Peshawar High Court.
A two-member bench of the Supreme Court, comprising Justice Gulzar Ahmed and Justice Ijazul Ahsan, took suo moto notice in the case after an inquiry committee submitted its report to the court.
Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed ordered Supreme Court Bar Association President Amanullah Kanrani to provide legal assistance to the parents of the martyrs.
The attorney-general has been ordered to present the government’s strategy at the next hearing.
The martyrs’ parents invited Justice Ahmed to tour APS Peshawar and he has accepted.
The hearing has been adjourned for one month.
Justice Ahmed said the tragedy is that action is always taken against junior employees. Why wasn’t informed of the attack given to the APS earlier, he asked?
Negligent officers are as responsible as the terrorists, he said. The chief justice told the attorney-general that they must stop the trend of only taking action against junior officials.
The time has come for every incident’s investigation to be started at the top, said Justice Ahmed. He said the government is also responsible for making sure the victims’ parents are satisfied with the action it has taken.
The government should ensure that there is no tragedy like the APS attack in the future, said Justice Ahmed. He warned that a suo moto notice will not be disposed of easily.
