A bank of seven members of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, led by Judge Aminuddin Khan, resumed on Tuesday the hearing on the appeals filed against the civilian trials of the Military Court after the violence of May 9.
During the hearing, Judge Jamal Khan Commandkhail questioned the importance of the jurisdiction of the trial, saying: “What difference does if the trial occurs here or there?”
The lawyer Faisal Siddiqi, who represents civil society petitioners, argued that there is a big difference between civil and military judgments, stating: “An independent trial is independent, the other is in the army.” He informed the Court that of 105 suspects, 20 had been released, while 66 remained in custody.
The additional attorney general confirmed the figures, adding that 19 more suspicious were released.
The petitioners argue that trying civilians in military courts violates the constitutional guarantees of a fair trial.
The audience was postponed until tomorrow.
Previously, Judge Commandkhail said Wednesday that the five judges of the Supreme Court were unanimous in their decision that civilians cannot be tried in military courts.
He made these comments during the hearing last week about an intra-cach appeal that challenges the trial of civilians in the military courts. Judge Commandkhail is part of a constitutional bank of seven members that supervises the appeal, which also includes the Judges Amin-Din Khan, Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Hassan Azhar Rizvi, Musarath Hilali, Naeem Akhtar Afghan and Shahid Bilal Hassan.
During the process, the lawyer Faisal Siddiqui argued that there had been three decisions separated by a bank of five members with respect to the military courts.
He pointed out that Judges Ayesha Malik, Muneeb Akhtar and Yahya Afridi had written individual decisions, but all the judges agreed to the central observations. Siddiqui emphasized that when the decisions of the judges align but their reasoning differs, all reasons are considered part of the general decision.
However, he argued that all judges agreed on the key issue that civilians should not be tried under military jurisdiction.
