Islamabad (Web Desk): The Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court (SC) on Monday hearing on the petitions challenging the trial of civilians in military courts.
A seven-member Constitutional Bench of the SC, headed by Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan and comprising Justices Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Hasan Azhar Rizvi, Musarrat Hilali, Naeem Akhtar Afghan, and Shahid Bilal Hasan, heard the case.
Advocate Khwaja Ahmad Hussain presented his arguments against these trials under the Army Act.
During the proceedings, Justice Jamal Mandokhail raised an important question, “If terrorists were to simultaneously target the military headquarters (GHQ), Parliament, and the Supreme Court, why should an attacker who targets the GHQ be tried in a military court, while those attacking the other two institutions would be prosecuted in an Anti-Terrorism Court?
He asked how the court could differentiate between attacks on civilian and military sites when the nature of the offense seemed the same.
In response, petitioner Justice (r) Jawad S. Khwaja’s counsel clarified that his concern was not to defend terrorism suspects, but to argue against civilians being tried under the Army Act. He emphasized his primary objective: safeguarding the fundamental rights of civilians.
In his remarks, Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan assured that the court was not seeking to expand the scope for military trials of civilians. Rather, the Court’s goal was to assess whether such trials are constitutionally allowed.
Advocate Ahmad Hussain, representing the Ministry of Defence, argued against the applicability of Section 3 of Article 184 of the Constitution in this case.
He referred to a previous statement by Chief Justice Yahya Afridi, which indicated that such matters require careful consideration, and suggested that the petitions before the Court were appropriate under the constitutional provision.
Meanwhile, the court imposed a fine of Rs 20,000 on Jawad S. Khwaja after he withdrew his review petition, which had sought to suspend the proceedings until a full bench could hear petitions related to the 26th Amendment.
The court criticized his petition as a tactic to delay proceedings, but upon Khwaja’s submission of a second review petition and withdrawal of his earlier petitions, the Court rescinded the fine.
Later the court adjourned the hearing and the proceedings will resume on Tuesday.
Advocate Salman Akram Raja, who will begin presenting his arguments in the case.
