ISLAMABAD: Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi stressed that the cases of civilians in military custody “be set down for hearing as soon as possible because the questions involved in the appeals concern the lives and liberties of citizens.”

A six-member bench, headed by Justice Aminuddin Khan and comprising Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi, Justice Shahid Waheed, Justice Musarrat Hilali, and Justice Irfan Saadat Khan, on April 24 in light of the prayer of the appellant counsels directed the SC Registrar to place the matter before the committee for constitution of a larger bench.

Justice agreed with the bench order said: “these cases be set down for hearing as soon as possible because the questions involved in the appeals concerns the lives and liberties of citizens.”

Civilians held in military custody: SC urged to immediately form larger bench

In the last hearing, Advocate Khawaja Ahmed Hosain, representing former Chief Justice Jawad S Khawaja, pleaded that a nine-member bench was initially constituted for hearing of petitions against the trial of civilians by military courts, but ultimately out of that bench five members decided the petitions, as other members recused to hear the petitions or disassociated from the bench. He also referred the judgment of Justice Yahya Afridi, who was part of five-member bench, which declared the trials of civilians arrested in the wake of violent protests in the country on May 9, 2023 by military courts null and void. According to Justice Yahya’s judgment “only a bench of not less than nine judges, as initially constituted, should have decided the questions of law raised in the present petitions.” Salman Akram Raja, another counsel of the appellants, had supported the contentions of Khawaja Ahmed Hosain. He submitted that these (appeals) being very high-profile cases, therefore, their decisions should satisfy the whole nation as question of propriety with regard to members of the bench should not come in the mind of the people.

Salman then referred Brig (retired) FB Ali’s and Rawalpindi District Bar Association’s cases to state that the decision of these appeals will have an impact on the said judgments and keeping in view the five-member as well as seven-member bench in those cases it is necessary that these appeals be heard by a nine-member bench.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024