Faizabad sit-in probe: Shehbaz Sharif skips inquiry commission hearing

• Shehbaz asks probe commission to send case-related questionnaire.
• 21-point questionnaire sent to former Punjab chief minister.
• Sharif was Punjab chief minister when TLP staged sit-in in 2017.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif Wednesday failed to appear before the inquiry commission constituted to investigate the Faizabad sit-in, The News reported Thursday citing sources.

According to the sources, the former prime minister instead asked the commission to send him a questionnaire pertaining to the inquiry they wanted to conduct. 

The commission, the sources added, has acknowledged his request and sent a 21-point questionnaire to reply within a limited time.

The inquiry commission had summoned the PML-N president to appear before it in person and record a statement in the case on January 3, as he was the chief minister of Punjab when the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) staged the sit-in in 2017.

Meanwhile, former Director of Inter-Services Intelligence Lieutenant General (retd) Faiz Hamid has been summoned thrice by the inquiry commission, but the former military man has not responded to their summons yet. 

The sources claim that the commission is mulling over recording Faiz's statement via video link.

Following the completion of the probe, the commission will submit its inquiry report on January 22, 2024.

In November last year, the caretaker federal government constituted the inquiry commission for the implementation of the top 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 Qazi Faez Isa remarked that the commission would be empowered to summon anyone, including former army chiefs, prime ministers and chief justices.

Earlier, former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, ex-interior minister Ahsan Iqbal, 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.

Faizabad verdict

In November 2017, the top court took suo motu notice of the three-week-long sit-in, which was held against a change in the finality-of-Prophethood oath, termed by the government as a clerical error, when the government passed the Elections Act 2017.

The sit-in was called off after the protesters reached an agreement with the government.

On February 6, 2019, a two-member bench of the apex court comprising the now-CJP Isa and Justice Mushir Alam recommended that persons, issuing an edict or fatwa to harm another person or put another person in the harm’s way must be dealt with iron hand and prosecuted under relevant laws.

It also ruled that the intelligence agencies must not exceed their respective mandates. Later, the bench disposed of the suo moto case regarding the Faizabad sit-in.

The 43-page verdict issued by the two-judge bench and published on the apex court's website read: “Every citizen and political party has the right to assemble and protest provided such assembly and protest is peaceful and complies with the law imposing reasonable restrictions in the interest of public order.

“The right to assemble and protest is circumscribed only to the extent that it infringes on the fundamental rights of others, including their right to free movement and to hold and enjoy property.”