Justice Shehram Sarwar heard the petition filed by Advocate Mian Dawood who made the provincial government, Punjab Police, Crime Control Department (CCD) and others respondents.
The petitioner told the court that around 1,100 citizens have reportedly been killed in alleged staged encounters since January this year.
He alleged that the police register fabricated FIRs against victims before killing them to justify the killings.
He cited the killing of Vehari-based Advocate Zeeshan Dhaddi as an example of such extrajudicial actions.
The petition termed the encounters a parallel system to the criminal justice framework and requested the court to immediately halt the practice across Punjab.
After hearing initial arguments, the court issued notices to all respondents and fixed further proceedings in the case for the third week of January.
Meanwhile, three more suspected drug peddlers were killed in alleged encounters involving the CCD in the Defence and Kotwali areas of Lahore.
According to the police, the suspect identified as Lazar Masih, Naseer Ahmed and Ali Baoo ere wanted in multiple narcotics-related cases and were part of drug networks operating in the city.
CCD officials claimed that the suspects were being transported when their accomplices ambushed the police teams in an attempt to secure their release.
The detained suspects were said to have been caught in the crossfire and fatally wounded by bullets fired by their associates.
Sources in the CCD said the department’s teams from the Defence and Kotwali areas were involved in the incidents. They said the deceased had several criminal cases registered against them in different police stations.
The bodies were shifted for post-mortem examination, while the police launched search operations to arrest the remaining members of the group. An investigation was under way.
Torture case
Hearing another case, the LHC directed the Punjab additional advocate general to submit a compliance report on a petition seeking registration of an FIR against seven policemen who had illegally entered a house in plainclothes and tortured its occupants.
Justice Shehram Sarwar heard the petition filed by Rana Muhammad Aziz. The petitioner’s counsel argued that personnel from the Factory Area police station had forcibly entered the house without any judicial authorisation and subjected the petitioner and others to torture.