Islamabad:
A member of a Constitutional Bank (CB) of the Supreme Court has indicated that if someone has committed a crime, there is no difference if their trial is made in a civil court or a military court.
On Tuesday, a CB of seven members led by Judge Aminuddin Khan resumed the audition of the intra-couurt appeals filed by the Government against an order of the previous Supreme Court to declare the judgments of the protesters in the military courts in the Military Courts in the Military Courts.
During the hearing, Judge Jamal Khan Commandkhail observed that those who commit a crime must be punished regardless of whether they are. “What difference does it make if a test takes place here? [in a civilian court] or there [in a military court]? “Asked.
The civil society lawyer, Faisal Siddiqi, made an exception to the observation that indicates that there is a big difference between a trial that takes place in a civil court and the one that takes place in a military court.
“One of them is a fair trial; the other is not,” he argued. Judge Commandkhail said that all forums are available under the law and that all are respectable.
Faisal Siddiqui declared that in the verdict of the FB Ali case, the Supreme Court had said that when Pakistan’s defense is at risk, civilians can be tried in military courts. However, cases related to the incidents of May 9, 2023 involve vandalism.
Previously, Judge Muhammad Ali Mazhar asked about the number of people released from the military courts. Faisal Siddiqui declared that there were a total of 105 defendants, of which 20 had been released.
The additional attorney general clarified that initially, 20 individuals were released, followed by another 19, leaving 66 accused still in jail.
Faisal Siddiqui also commented that in the United States, it is usual to allow both parties to propose a trial at the end of the arguments. He added that if the argument is that a martial court must take place, then there are also available alternatives.
After Siddiqui concluded his arguments, Abid Zuberi, the lawyer who represents the former officials of the Bar Association of the Supreme Court, argued that the Pakistan Attorney General had assured that the right to a fair trial would be confirmed. The CB will resume listening to the case at 9:30 am today.
A day before, the CB had asked what the state of the procedures of the military courts that have judgments of dozens of disturbers of May 9 if the cases against them are transferred to ATC.
During the arguments, Faisal Siddiqi had noticed that if his argument was accepted, the law of the army of Pakistan, 1952, would remain intact, but the trial of May 9 accused would become void and without effect.
“If the judgments are annulled, the cases that the military courts have not yet decided will be transferred to the ATCs, while the cases in which the sentences have already been executed will be considered ‘past and closed transactions,” Siddiqui told The Bench.
