Islamabad: The seven-member Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court on Monday commenced hearings on the petitions challenging the trial of civilians in military courts, while Advocate Khwaja Ahmad Hussain presented his arguments against such trials under the Army Act.
The Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP), headed by Justice Amin ud Din Khan and comprising Justices Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Hasan Azhar Rizvi, Musarrat Hilali, Naeem Akhtar Afghan, and Shahid Bilal Hasan, is currently hearing the case.
During the proceedings, Justice Jamal Mandokhail raised a question, “If the military headquarters (GHQ), the Parliament, and the Supreme Court are simultaneously attacked by terrorists, why should an attacker targeting the GHQ be tried in a military court, while those attacking Parliament or the Supreme Court are tried in an Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC)? He asked how the court would differentiate between terrorists targeting civilian and military sites in the same manner.
In response, counsel for the petitioner, Justice (R) Jawad S. Khwaja, emphasized that his concern is not the defense of terrorism suspects but the protection of civilians from being tried under the Army Act. He further clarified that his primary goal is to preserve the fundamental rights of all citizens.
Justice Amin ud Din Khan responded by assuring that the Court’s focus is not to create new avenues for military trials of civilians but to determine whether such trials are constitutionally permissible.
In his response to Advocate Khwaja Haris, counsel for the Ministry of Defence, Advocate Ahmad Hussain argued that Section 3 of Article 184 of the Constitution should not be applied in this case.
He noted that Chief Justice Yahya Afridi has previously stated that the application of this section requires thorough deliberation and, in his view, the petitions before the Court are permissible under this provision.
Meanwhile, the Court issued an order to fine Jawad S. Khwaja after he withdrew his review petition, which sought to suspend the proceedings until the Full Court decided on the petitions challenging the 26th Amendment.
The Court described his petition as a delaying tactic that wasted valuable time and imposed a fine of Rs. 20,000.
The petition was subsequently rejected. However, after Khwaja filed a review petition against the fine and withdrew his earlier petitions, the Court granted his request and rescinded the fine.
After the conclusion of Advocate Khwaja Ahmad Hussain’s arguments, the Court adjourned the proceedings until tomorrow, when Advocate Salman Akram Raja will begin presenting his case.
