ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) - The Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday conditionally allowed the military courts to announce their reserved judgements on civilians' trials.
A six-member bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Justice Aminuddin Khan, heard the intra-court appeals against trials of civilians in military courts.
Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Hasan Azhar Rizvi, Justice Shahid Waheed, Justice Musarrat Hilali and Justice Irfan Saadat Khan were part of the larger bench.
TODAY'S HEARING
At the beginning of the hearing, the attorney general said there was a possibility that 15-20 accused could be released by the special courts.
The attorney general told the court that acquitted and those with lesser sentences would be released with concessions. He said 105 accused were in custody of the army.
PEOPLE WITH LESSER PUNISHMENT WILL HAVE TO BE GIVEN CONCESSION BY THE ARMY CHIEF
He said for release of the accused, three steps will have to be followed. The first step will be the announcement of reserved verdict, the second step will be its confirmation, while the third phase will be the concession given by the army chief to those with lesser sentences.
The Attorney General requested the court to allow special courts to pronounce reserved judgments.
On this, Justice Aminuddin Khan remarked that even if permission was granted, it would be conditional to the final decision of the appeals.
Justice Hassan Azhar Rizvi remarked court must be informed about the names of those to be released.
On this, the attorney general said until decisions of the special courts, he could not reveal the names. "Those who were given one year imprisonment will be exempted," he said.
Barrister Aitzaz, reacting to the statement of attorney general, said he was disappointed to hear him. Later, the Supreme Court conditionally permitted the military courts to pronounce reserved judgments.
The Supreme Court said reserved judgments of only those accused should be announced who could be released before Eid.
SC SEEKS SUMMARY OF RESERVED DECISIONS OF CIVILIANS TRIAL IN MILITARY COURTS
During previous hearing on March 25, the Supreme Court had asked the Attorney General for Pakistan to present a summary of the reserved decisions related to the trials of civilians by military courts on next date of hearing on March 28.
The Supreme Court issued directive to the attorney general as it resumed hearing intra-court appeals (ICAs) against its Oct 23 unanimous decision invalidating trials of civilians in military courts for their alleged involvement in the May 9 violence.
The court had declared that civilians could not be tried in military courts but in criminal courts of competent jurisdiction established under the ordinary or special law of the land.
A five-member bench comprising Justices Ijazul Ahsan, Munib Akhtar, Yahya Afridi, Syed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi and Ayesha Malik had unanimously declared the trial of civilians in military courts ultra vires the Constitution.
However, on Dec 13, in a 5-1 majority verdict, the Supreme Court suspended its verdict “conditionally” as there were ICAs pending for a final judgment.
Today, a six-member bench, headed by Justice Aminuddin Khan and including Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Syed Azhar Hasan Rizvi, Justice Shahid Waheed, Justice Musarrat Hilali and Justice Irfan Saadat Khan, took up the appeals.
On March 19, former chief justice Jawwad S. Khawaja, who is one of the petitioners, had requested the court for an early hearing of the appeals, contending that the continued presence of civilians in military custody was “beyond compensation”.