Islamabad sit-in: SC dismisses reports, holds govt responsible

Supreme Court (SC)  dismissed on Thursday the reports submitted by Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Interior, saying that media was far updated than the reports submitted by the ministries regarding the ongoing protest at Faizabad Interchange in Islamabad.

The court directed the ministries to re-submit the report on the sit-in by next Thursday. During the hearing, SC also blamed the government for not taking timely action even after being aware of the ongoing protest in Islamabad.

According to media reports, Justice Qazi Faez Isa said that while negotiating, both the government and protesters were forgetting that Islam teaches us to remove even a stone from someone’s way.

Justice Isa expressed his dismay at the unrelenting situation and questioned how the country will manage to function if such a situation persists. "We do not want bloodshed in the country," Attorney-General Ashtar Ausaf told the court.

IHC extends deadline to end Islamabad sit-in

Earlier on Tuesday, SC had taken notice of the sit-in at Faizabad Interchange. While hearing the case on Tuesday, Justice Isa had asked the defence and interior secretaries, the attorney-general and advocate-general of Punjab to submit a report in this regard by today. The court had also issued notices to the inspector-generals and attorney-generals of Islamabad and Punjab, seeking their replies today.

IHC adjourns case of Islamabad sit-in

Islamabad High Court (IHC) adjourned on Thursday the case regarding the protest at Faizabad Interchange. The hearing could not take place as Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui, who was on leave, was not present in court, local media reported. The government was due to submit today its report to IHC over clearing the area where the protesters are holding sit-in.

On Monday, Justice Siddiqui had summoned Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal for not implementing court orders to clear the sit-in at Faizabad in given deadline. The court had given a deadline on Friday to clear the sit-in by early Saturday.

On request of Iqbal, the court had extended the deadline to Thursday (today). Meanwhile, the sit-in has still not ended and government has yet to remove the protesters from Faizabad.