SC constitutional bench permits military courts to rule on 85 accused

ISLAMABAD: The Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court has allowed military courts to pronounce verdicts on 85 accused of violence and other charges in May 9 events case.

However, the verdicts of military courts will be subject to the verdict of the cases pending in the Supreme Court, the bench announced its decision today.

During yesterday’s proceedings, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail had said that in Pakistan the highest position is that of the president and if there was an attack on the president, a special anti-terrorism court would hear that case. Likewise, if the army installations were attacked, then the trial will be held in military courts as well.

MILITARY COURTS CASE IN SUPREME COURT

A seven-member constitutional bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Justice Aminuddin Khan, heard the appeal case filed by the government against the Supreme Court’s verdict in October 2023 which had declared the trial of civilians in military courts null and void.

Read more: SC rejects govt plea to allow military courts to decide cases

In October last year, a five-member bench of the apex court had issued a verdict, saying that the military court’s ruling on 103 – accused of violence on May 9 and 10 – was null and void. In December last year, the government filed an intra-court appeal against that verdict which resulted in a SC bench suspending the October order.

PTI REACTS

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Spokesperson Barrister Saif said, “The dream of a military trial of the founder of PTI Imran Khan will never be realized.”

He alleged that the government is trying hard for a military trial of the incarcerated former PTI chairman. “The rulers should stop trying to create bitterness between the people and the institutions,” Barrister Saif said, adding, “The political mafia sees its survival only in ‘minusing’ Imran Khan”.

He said that today’s “move of the government” is another attempt to kill democracy.