ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Wednesday by a 5-1 majority suspended its October 23 order wherein declared civilians’ trials in military courts null and void in connection with the May 9 riots.
The verdict was announced after a six-member bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Justice Sardar Tariq Masood and comprising Justice Aminuddin Khan, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi, Justice Musarrat Hilali, and Justice Irfan Saadat Khan heard the set of intra-court appeals filed by the federal and provincial governments and the defence ministry.
Justice Hilali differed with the majority verdict which allowed the trials of civilians in the military courts till the Supreme Court announced the verdict on the intra-court pleas.
The military court trials will be conditioned to the Supreme Court’s final verdict on the intra-court pleas.
On October 23, a five-member apex court bench headed by Justice Ijazul Ahsan unanimously nullified the government’s decision to try civilians in military courts in connection with the May 9 riots which erupted after the arrest of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-then chairman Imran Khan.
Four judges out of the five declared that Section 2(1)(d) of the Army Act and 59(4) (civil offences) are “ultra vires the Constitution and of no legal effect”.
“Without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing the trials of civilians and accused persons, being around 103 persons […] shall be tried by criminal courts of competent jurisdiction established under the ordinary and/or special law of the land in relation to such offences of which they may stand accused,” the short order read.
The court had announced the verdict on multiple petitions filed in the SC by Imran Khan, Aitzaz Ahsan, Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (Piler) Executive Director Karamat Ali, and former chief justice of Pakistan Jawwad S Khawaja against the military trials of civilians.
Following its verdict, the federal and the provincial governments along with the defence ministry filed intra-court appeals (ICAs). However, the caretaker government of Sindh refused to file any plea against the SC order.
During the hearing today, Khawaja Haris, a counsel for the defence ministry, requested the top court to stay the military verdict until the final decision on the intra-court pleas.