ISLAMABAD:
The Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court on Thursday rejected former Chief Justice Jawwad S Khawaja’s request to postpone the hearing of an intra-judicial appeal against the ruling on military trials of civilians, saying the plea lacked merit and justification for delaying the procedure.
The seven-member bench, headed by Justice Aminuddin Khan, also imposed a fine of Rs 20,000 on the petitioner. The court noted in its written order that the application did not take into account the plight of the accused who have been languishing in prison for a year and a half.
The court said it was requested to postpone the hearing of intra-judicial appeals on the military courts case until the petition against the 26th Constitutional Amendment is decided. The court asked what the connection was between the amendment and the present case.
The petitioner’s lawyer responded that the constitutional court was formed under the 26th Amendment, and if the high court declared this amendment void, the court’s decisions would no longer be valid.
“We were surprised to hear this type of argument,” the order states. “If any legislation is in conflict with the Constitution or any provision of the Constitutional Amendment is declared void, even then judicial decisions are protected,” he added.
The court noted that the current Supreme Court was working under the 26th Constitutional Amendment. It had been seen, the order adds, that the parties had previously tried to hinder the judicial process.
The first objection was raised to the court, and when a larger bench of seven members was formed, the parties expressed their confidence in it. The parties also objected to the appointment of an attorney for the petitioner, and a request was also made to show the proceedings live, which was later withdrawn.
The purpose of these requests was to delay the proceedings until the decision on the 26th Amendment. This request [Khawaja’s petition] was not filed in good faith, the order said, adding that the application was baseless and was dismissed with a fine of Rs 20,000.
“This petition has been filed ignoring the rights of the accused who are behind bars for more than a year and a half. Even otherwise, the learned counsel has not shown any impact of the decision on the petition challenging the amendment 26 on these appeals, therefore “This application being frivolous, it is dismissed with a cost of Rs 20,000,” the written order says.
