ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court reserved the judgment regarding the conviction of two army Colonels by the military court for plotting to overthrow the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) government of (late) Benazir Bhutto in 1995.
A three-judge special bench, headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, on Tuesday, heard the constitutional petitions of ex-Col Inayatullah Khan and ex-Col Muhammad Azad Minhas against their convictions by the Field General Court Martial (FGCM), withholding their pension and the confiscation of their properties.
Additional Attorney General (AAG) Sajid Illyas Bhatti submitted the concise statement on behalf of the federation. He argued that the petitions of the former army officers suffer from the laches. He said they have failed to explain why the writ petition was filed in the High Court after 13 years. He informed that Col Minhas was awarded two years sentence and dismissal from the service, while Col Inayat was given four years sentence and dismissal from the service.
He submitted that they were army officers; therefore, were tried and sentenced under Army Act. He said there were different army officers at each stage of the case, but attached to one unit for the purpose of investigation and convening of the case and the trial.
The AAG said though the allegations against the petitioners were of serious nature, but the commanding officer took a lenient view and awarded lesser punishment. The proceeding under the Army Act is not the violation of the Fundamental Rights, adding the apex court in its judgment declared the petitioners were commissioned officers.
He said that they were aware of the conspiracy, but remained silent and did not report to the higher authority. The charges against them were validly proven.
Col Minhas argued that they have approached the Supreme Court in 1995 against the military court. He said their petitions were decided in 1996, and in October 1996 filed a review petition against that judgment, which remained pending till 2009. He said that the writ petition before the Lahore High Court (LHC) was against the verdict of the military court.
The bench after hearing the arguments reserved the judgment.
Col Inayatullah and Col Azad were arrested along with Major General Zaheerul Islam Abbasi (retired), Brigadier Mustansir Billah, and about 38 other military officers on September 26, 1995, on charges of plotting to overthrow Benazir’s government and to storm a meeting of corps commanders at the general headquarters in Rawalpindi.
The alleged plan also included assassination of prime minister Benazir and the then army chief General Abdul Waheed Kakar, senior cabinet ministers and military chiefs, besides, proclamation of a Khilafat with Major General Abbasi as Amir. Qari Saifullah Akhtar, one of the conspirators and chief of his breakaway faction called Harkat-ul-Jihad al Islami, later spilled the beans after he turned an “approver” in the case.
Col Inayatullah said that the FGCM had awarded him a four-year sentence, which he had completed in 1998. He said that the constitutional petition was filed in the Supreme Court in 2000, and since that time it is pending.
A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry on January 8, 2013 had dismissed Major General (retired) Zaheerul Islam Abbasi, his wife Shahida Zaheer, Brigadier (retired) Mustansir Billah, and Colonel (retired) Inayatullah Khan’s review pleas against their convictions.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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