Supreme Court allows trial of civilians in military courts

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP) on Wednesday announced its verdict allowing the trial of civilians in military courts and ruled that the earlier judgment declaring the military trial of civilians as unconstitutional “stands nullified.”

The earlier decision was announced by a 5-member bench led by Justice Ijaz-ul-Hassan.

The short decision was announced by a seven-member bench headed by Justice Aminuddin Khan, with a ratio of 5 to 2. Justice Jamal Mandokhel and Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan dissented from the verdict

Justice Aminuddin Khan, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Mussarat Hilali, Justice Hassan Azhar Rizvi, and Justice Shahid Bilal decided in favour of the appeals.

The bench was constituted to hear intra-court appeals filed by the federal government and other petitioners seeking to restore military trials for individuals accused of inciting or participating in the May 9 riots, which followed the arrest of former prime minister Imran Khan.

The bench was formed to hear intra-court appeals submitted by the federal government and other petitioners seeking to reinstate military trials for those accused of instigating or participating in the May 9 riots, which occurred following the arrest of former Prime Minister Imran Khan.

The bench reinstated all three clauses of the Army Act: 2(1)(d), 2(d)(2), and 59(4), which were previously nullified by the top court’s five-member bench.

The matter has been referred to the government to grant the right of appeal against the decisions of military courts.

The constitutional bench has remarked that the government should legislate within 45 days regarding granting the right of appeal.

The detailed verdict will be released later.