Supreme Court’s Justice Jamal Mandokhail on Tuesday remarked that punishment must be served regardless of where the trial takes place.
A seven-member constitutional bench led by Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan heard intra-court appeals regarding the military trial of civilians, during which civil society lawyer Faisal Siddiqui continued his arguments.
Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar inquired about the number of people released from military courts. Siddiqui said 105 suspects were tried, of whom 20 had been freed.
However, Attorney General of Pakistan Mansoor Usman Awan intervened and informed the court that an additional 19 had also been released, bringing the total to 39, while 66 suspects remained in prison.
Justice Mandokhail commented that regardless of who committed a crime, justice must be served.
In response, Siddiqui argued that the difference was significant, as one trial is conducted independently while the other falls under military jurisdiction.
Following Siddiqui’s completion of arguments, former Supreme Court Bar Association office-bearers’ lawyer Abid Zuberi is set to present his case next. The case hearing has been adjourned until tomorrow.
The top court, in its unanimous verdict by a five-member bench, on October 23, 2023, declared civilians’ trials in military courts null and void after it admitted the petitions challenging the trial of civilians involved in the May 9 riots.
However, on December 13, 2023, a six-member bench of the apex court – with Justice Hilali differing with the majority – suspended its October 23 order on petitions challenging the earlier verdict.
But after a hiatus, the constitutional bench in December last year had conditionally allowed military courts to pronounce reserved verdicts of 85 civilians who were still in custody for their alleged involvement in the May 9, 2023, riots.
In its order, the constitutional bench had said judgments of military courts would be conditional to the top court verdict on the cases pending before it.
Subsequently, the military courts sentenced 85 PTI activists to two to 10 years of “rigorous imprisonment” for their involvement in the May 9 protests, marking the conclusion of trials for those held in military custody over the attacks on army installations and monuments.
Later in January, the military accepted mercy pleas of 19 out of the 67 convicts sentenced in the May 9 riots case on “humanitarian grounds”, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said.
