The federal government has initiated discussions regarding the potentialchallenge to the Supreme Court’s ruling that nullified the trial ofcivilians in military courts, according to sources with knowledge of thematter on Wednesday.
It is reported that the government intends to challenge this decision soonafter receiving the detailed judgment. “The decision will be thoroughlyreviewed in consultation with various state institutions,” stated thesources, who shared details of the latest developments.
On Monday, the Supreme Court of Pakistan, led by Justice Ijazul Ahsan,announced a verdict with a 4-1 majority, annulling the trial of civiliansin military courts.
In a brief order, the top court emphasized that civilian trials cannot beconducted in military courts and that Section 2 (D) (I) was deemedunconstitutional. The bench, consisting of Justice Ijaz ul Ahsan, JusticeMunib Akhtar, Justice Ayesha Malik, Justice Mazahar Naqvi, and JusticeYahya Afridi, determined that the 102 civilians held for military trialsrelated to the May 9 incident can only be tried in criminal courts.
The court also invalidated requests from civilians in custody who hadexpressed confidence in military courts due to a lack of an affidavitattached to their applications. The verdict was announced following thecompletion of arguments by Attorney General Mansoor Awan.
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The government had previously informed the court about the ongoing trialsin a miscellaneous application in line with the Supreme Court’s August 3order. The application stated that the accused individuals had been takeninto custody in May and emphasized the need for their trials to beconducted and concluded to ensure fairness.
On August 3, the then-Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial had asserted that theSupreme Court would prevent any unconstitutional actions by the country’smilitary while hearing pleas challenging the trial of civilians in militarycourts.
In response to the government’s actions and military involvement, severalprominent figures, including PTI Chairman Imran Khan, former Chief JusticeJawwad S. Khawaja, lawyer Aitzaz Ahsan, and civil society members,requested the Supreme Court to declare military trials as”unconstitutional.”