Inquiry Commission summons Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday in Faizabad dharna case
ISLAMABAD, Jan 01 (SABAH): An inquiry commission formed to probe the 2017 Faizabad sit-in has summoned Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President and former prime minister Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday (3rd January).
According to the media reports, Shehbaz Sharif has been summoned as former Punjab chief minister to record his statement in connection with an inquiry into the sit-in staged by Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) in the federal capital against the then PML-N-led government in November 2017.
In November last year, the caretaker federal government constituted the inquiry commission for the implementation of the Supreme Court’s 2019 Faizabad verdict.
The probe panel was constituted on the order of the Supreme Court of Pakistan under the chair of retired IGP Akhtar Ali Shah after the apex court rejected the fact-finding committee report constituted by the government.
On November 15, Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Qazi Faez Isa had remarked that the commission would be empowered to summon anyone, including former army chiefs, prime ministers and chief justices.
The inquiry commission is required to submit its report to the top court on January 22.
Earlier, former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, ex-interior minister Ahsan Iqbal Chaudhry, then-secretary to PM Fawad Hasan Fawad and other senior officials serving in Islamabad and Punjab who were involved in the episode had appeared before the probe panel.
However, former director general (DG) Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Lt General (retd) Faiz Hamid yet again skipped the hearing of the Faizabad Dharna Inquiry Commission (FDIC) last month.
This was the second time that the former ISI chief remained absent from the proceedings being conducted by the inquiry commission, which earlier summoned him in the second week of December last year and then on December 29, the media reported.