The Supreme Court of Pakistan has said in an order on Thursday that the military courts can deliver safe verdicts in cases against civilians (ordinary citizens) over the May 9 incidents, but this permission will be conditional.
On Thursday, a six-member bench headed by Justice Aminuddin Khan heard appeals against the annulment of trials of civilians in military courts.
After the hearing, the court said that judgments should be pronounced only in those cases in which the nominees may have been released before Eid.
Attorney General Mansoor Usman Awan assured the court that legal concessions will be given to those with lesser sentences.
The Supreme Court said that ‘permission to pronounce judgments will be subject to the final decision on appeals.’
The court also directed the Attorney General to submit the implementation report to the Registrar.
During the hearing, the Attorney General said that 15 to 20 accused are likely to be released on May 9, but there are three steps that will have to be completed.
The Attorney General said that ‘the first step will be the reserved judgment, the second will be its confirmation and the third step will be to give concessions to those who have been sentenced less by the Army Chief.’
The next hearing on this matter will be held in the third week of April.
At the last hearing, the Attorney General told the Supreme Court that the trial of the suspects involved in the May 9 incidents in the military courts has been completed and the verdicts are pending, but due to the injunction of the Supreme Court, they have not been pronounced yet.
What was the decision to invalidate the trial of civilians in military courts?
On October 23 last year, the Supreme Court reserved its decision on the petitions filed against the trial of the civilians arrested for their involvement in the May 9 violent protests in the military courts, in which the trials of the civilians in the military courts were nullified.
The judgment said that Section 59(4) of the Army Act is also declared null and void.
The case was heard by a five-member larger bench headed by Justice Ejazul Ahsan, Justice Muneeb Akhtar, Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Mazahir Naqvi and Justice Ayesha Malik.
The Supreme Court’s 1-4 majority decision said that all 103 people in military custody will not be tried in military courts, while Justice Yahya Afridi disagreed with the majority decision.
Conditional permission for trial of civilians
On November 17 last year, the federal government, the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Law and the provincial governments had challenged the Supreme Court’s decision not to prosecute civilians in military courts and to declare the trial null and void.
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In the appeals, the position was adopted that the decision of the Supreme Court of October 23 is against the constitution and the law, so it should be declared null and void.
The Supreme Court on December 13 gave a conditional verdict on the intra-court appeals against the annulment of the trial of the civilians by the military courts, saying that the trial of the civilian in the military courts will continue but the military courts will not give a final decision on the trial until the appeals are decided. .
A six-member bench headed by Justice Sardar Tariq Masood heard the intra-court appeals related to military courts in the Supreme Court.
The six-member bench included Justice Aminuddin, Justice Muhammad Ali, Justice Hasan Azhar, Justice Musrat Hilali and Justice Irfan Saadat Khan.
The court decision was given with a ratio of five to one, while Justice Musrat Hilali disagreed with the decision.
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2024-05-10 10:55:12