960414

Javed Ashraf

murder inquiry

not held

RECORDER REPORT

LAHORE: A three-member tribunal comprising Judges of the LHC could not assemble on Sunday to conduct the inquiry into PML (N) worker Javed Ashraf's murder because the senior member declined to hold proceedings.

According to sources in LHC Registrar's office, the Punjab Governor had requested the Acting Chief Justice of LHC to constitute a tribunal to hold inquiry into this matter and a comprising Justice Ehsan-ul-Haq Chaudhry was constituted for this purpose.

Later the Governor, without consulting the ACJ, announced to re-constitute the Bench by including two other Judges in the Bench. The news was telecast and relayed from the state-controlled electronic media also.

The senior member of the tribunal on Sunday declined to hold proceeding on technical grounds that the Bench could not be constituted at the direction of 'executive' after March, 23, 1996 because Judiciary deemed to have been separated from the Executive, sources said.