SC seeks summary of reserved decisions of civilians’ trials in military courts

Islamabad: The Supreme Court Monday asked the Attorney General of Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Usman Awan for the summary of the reserved decisions related to the trials of civilians in military courts.

According to the details, a six-member larger bench headed by Supreme Court judge Justice Aminuddin Khan, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Hassan Azhar Rizvi, Justice Shahid Waheed, Justice Musarat Hilali and Justice Irfan Saadat Khan heard the case.

Objection to bench size

At the beginning of the hearing, Khawaja Ahmad Hussain, the lawyer of the petitioner Justice (retd) Jawad S. Khawaja raised an objection on the size of the bench.

He said that 103 accused are in custody, their families want to join the court proceedings, therefore they should be allowed to watch the hearing.

On this, Justice Aminuddin remarked that the courtroom is full, where will they sit? There is no objection to coming to the court, let's look into their case.

Later, the lawyer of Justice (retd) Jawad S Khawaja requested to form a nine-member larger bench.

He said that they had requested to form a nine-member larger bench in our miscellaneous petition. They request the court to request the Supreme Court Committee to form a nine-member bench.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Govt requests to withdraw appeals

After that, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government requested to withdraw the appeals filed against the annulment of the trial of the civilians in the military courts. The lawyer of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government presented the resolution of the provincial cabinet in the court.

The counsel argued that the intra-court appeals were to be withdrawn.

On this, the court remarked that they cannot withdraw appeals following cabinet resolution. Tt would be appropriate to file a formal application to withdraw the appeals.

Petitioners objection to bench and private lawyers

Later, the petitioners against the military courts raised objection to the bench as well as the private lawyers.

On this occasion, lawyer Faisal Siddiqui said that the Attorney General has filed five appeals on behalf of government institutions. Private lawyers have been hired by some ministries. The AGP himself has filed appeals, so why the public money be spent on private lawyers.

Lawyer Khawaja Ahmed Hussain said that it would be appropriate to send the matter to the Judges Committee again for the formation of the bench. Earlier also it was requested to form a nine-member bench.

On this, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar remarked that if a nine-member bench had already been formed, it would not have been possible to hear the appeals today.

Khawaja Ahmed Hussain continued his speech and said that the five-member bench of the Supreme Court declared the trial invalid by giving a unanimous decision. If the six-member bench declared it invalid by 4-2 majority, it will become controversial. It is important for public trust that the decision should not be controversial, there should not be an impression that the decision is clear just by the formation of the bench.

Later, the court sought details from the Attorney General about how many of the 103 detained persons deserve to be acquitted.

Justice Aminuddin Khan remarked that how many accused have been punished? Also tell how many accused have been acquitted? The Attorney General said that the trial had been completed but the court had reserved the final verdict.

After that, the court issued notices to the parties and adjourned the further hearing of the case till March 28.