ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan, with a majority of 5-1, temporarily suspended its prior ruling from October 23, which had invalidated the trials of civilians in military courts linked to the May 9 riots.
This decision came after the federal and provincial governments, as well as the defense ministry, filed appeals within the court contesting the earlier ruling made by Justice Ijazul Ahsan’s bench in October.
A six-member panel of the Supreme Court, led by Justice Sardar Tariq Masood and including Justices Aminuddin Khan, Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi, Musarrat Hilali, and Irfan Saadat Khan, heard these appeals.
Notably, Justice Hilali dissented from the majority opinion, disagreeing with the decision that permitted trials of civilians in military courts until the final verdict on the appeals within the court.
The current order conditions the trials in military courts upon the Supreme Court’s conclusive decision regarding these appeals.
Previously, on October 23, a five-member bench, headed by Justice Ahsan, had unanimously accepted pleas and annulled the government’s authorization to try civilians in military courts concerning the May 9 riots following the arrest of then Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman, Imran Khan.
In that ruling, four out of five judges declared Section 2(1)(d) of the Army Act and 59(4) (civil offences) as unconstitutional and without legal effect. The order specified that individuals, approximately 103 in number, should be tried by criminal courts as per the established laws of the land, without specifying the offenses.
Subsequent to this ruling, appeals were filed by the federal and provincial governments along with the defense ministry, while the caretaker government of Sindh opted not to file any appeal against the Supreme Court’s decision.
During the recent hearing, Khawaja Haris, counsel for the defense ministry, urged the court to halt the military court trials until a final resolution on the pending appeals within the court is reached.
(Islamabad51_Newsdesk)
