Islamabad (Staff Report/Agencies): A six-member of the Supreme Court (SC) has resumed hearing on the petitions challenging the trial of civilians in military courts.
The seven-member was dissolved for the second time on Monday after the federal government raised objections to the inclusion of Justice Mansoor Ali Shah.
During the today’s hearing, Justice Mansoor Ali Shah recused himself after Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Usman Awan submitted before the court that he had been “instructed by the federal government that the SC’s justice Shah should not be a part of the bench, , citing the fact that one of the petitioners, Jawwad S. Khawaja, was related to him.
Later, a six-member bench headed by CJP Umar Ata Bandial and comprising Justice Ijazul Ahsan, Justice Muneeb Akhtar, Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi and Justice Ayesha Malik resumed the hearing.
It is pertinent to mention that at very first Justice Mansoor Ali Shah had asked the AGP that he would not be part of the bench if the government had any objection. At the time, the AGP replied that there was no objection.
As the six-member bench resumed the hearing, the PTI chief’s lawyer, Hamid Khan, came to the rostrum at the start of the hearing and said that a number hadn’t been assigned to their plea. However, the CJP said the court would come to this issue later, adding that the judges had come back after recovering from a “setback”.
Petitioner Junaid Razzak’s lawyer Salman Akram Raja came to the rostrum. He referred to the British and American constitutions in his argument.
The CJP warned the lawyer against involving in a "big controversy" and asked him to “keep the arguments simple”.
“This is a fundamental rights case. Army Act’s Section D2 cannot deprive the civilians of their basic rights surpassing the Constitution,” CJP Bandial remarked.
The top judge said that the court wanted to view the several verdicts about the military courts, while asking that the word "court martial" hadn't been used elsewhere than Army Act.
Meanwhile, Justice Akhtar stated that Article 199 does not apply to court martial.