New JIT on Model Town incident High court larger bench dissolves after member's recusal.

LAHORE -- A Lahore High Court larger bench, seized with a set of petitions against the second Joint Investigation Team (JIT) in the Model Town incident, got dissolved on Tuesday following recusal by one of its seven members.

Chief Justice Muhammad Ameer Bhatti heads the bench, with Justice Malik Shahzad Ahmad Khan, Justice Aalia Neelum, Justice Syed Shahbaz Ali Rizvi, Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar, Justice Tariq Saleem Sheikh and Justice Ali Zia Bajwa as members.

As the bench assembled to take up the petitions, Advocate Azhar Siddique on behalf of the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) stated that one of the members sitting on the bench, before his elevation as judge, was the counsel for an accused in the trial proceedings of the Model Town incident.

At this, Justice Bajwa recused himself from the matter, citing personal reasons.

Some of the petitioners also sought time from the bench to engage a new...