Pak SC grills PM Khan in 2014 Army Public School massacre case

Islamabad: Imran Khan on Wednesday faced a barrage of questions at a hearing of the 2014 terror attack on an Army-run school during which the Supreme Court bench asked the Pakistan prime minister why he was negotiating with the culprits of the massacre of nearly 150 people, mostly students.

A total of 147 people, 132 of them children, were killed when Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants stormed Army Public School (APS) in Peshawar in 2014.

The three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Gulzar Ahmed, and comprising Justice Qazi Mohammad Amin Ahmed and Justice Ijazul Ahsan had summoned Khan around 10 am. He arrived at the court roughly two hours later, just before noon.

"The satisfaction of the parents [who lost their children in the APS attack] is necessary," said Justice Ahsan addressing the premier.

The chief justice asked the prime minister to inform the court of the work being done by his government regarding the APS case, the Dawn newspaper reported.

The chief justice told the prime minister that the parents of the APS victims were not seeking compensation from the government.

"Parents are asking where was the security system [that day]? Despite our comprehensive orders, nothing was done," he said.

The prime minister told the chief justice that a National Action Plan was introduced after the APS massacre, adding that there is "no holy cow" in Pakistan, Geo News reported.

The bench said the government should listen to the parents of the APS schoolchildren and take action against the culprits.

"The government should take action against those involved in the Army Public School massacre," said the Supreme Court.