Islamabad (Web Desk): The Supreme Court has sought details of the military trials of civilians for their alleged involvement in the violent events of May 9.
A six-member bench led by Justice Aminuddin Khan and comprising Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Syed Azhar Hasan Rizvi, Justice Shahid Waheed, Justice Musarrat Hilali and Justice Irfan Saadat Khan heard a set of intra-court appeals (ICAs) challenging its Oct 23 unanimous verdict nullifying the military trials of civilians.
During the today’s hearing, the court asked the Attorney General for Pakistan to present a summary of the reserved decisions related to the trials of civilians by military courts on next date of hearing on March 28.
Last year, a five-member bench comprising Justices Ijazul Ahsan, Munib Akhtar, Yahya Afridi, Syed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi and Ayesha Malik had unanimously declared the trial of civilians in military courts ultra vires the Constitution.
However, on Dec 13, in a 5-1 majority verdict, the Supreme Court suspended its verdict “conditionally” as there were ICAs pending for a final judgment.
In January, a petition was filed by Faisal Siddiqui on behalf of some of those challenging the trials to restrain federal and provincial governments from engaging a private counsel to plead the matter.
At the last hearing on Jan 29, Justice Sardar Tariq Masood, who has since retired, referred the ICAs back to a three-judge committee for the constitution of a larger bench.
On March 19, former CJP Jawwad S. Khawaja, who is one of the petitioners to challenge the military trials, had requested the apex court for an early hearing of the appeals, contending that the continued presence of civilians in military custody was “beyond compensation”.
Today, Khawaja Ahmed appeared before the court as the counsel for ex-CJP Khawaja while Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Usman Awan and KP Additional Advocate General (AAG) Syed Kausar Ali Shah were also present.
Salman Akram Raja and Faisal Siddiqui appeared as the counsels for their clients who had challenged the trials while Aitzaz Ahsan, who was also one of the petitioners, was also present.
The SC ordered the AGP to furnish the details of the verdicts reserved by the military courts till March 28 and adjourned the hearing till then.
