ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Sunday delisted the case against civilians’ trial in military courts.

A notice issued by the court says the case has been removed from the list of the cases, which would be heard on January 20 and 21. The case has been delisted due to the absence of Justice Shahid Bilal from the constitutional bench.

A seven-member bench of the Supreme Court head by Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan was set to hear the case on January 20 and 21.

MoD lawyer tells SC: May 9 ‘conspirators’, ‘masterminds’ will be tried in military court

Earlier this week, the constitutional bench of the Supreme Court ordered the Ministry of Defence to furnish complete data on civilians’ tried in military courts, barring the case of Indian spy commander Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadhav.

The instructions were issued by Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan while pointing towards the ministry’s counsel Khawaja Haris Ahmed in an apparent move to determine whether procedural justice was not sacrificed at the altar of expediency.

The bench had taken up a set of intra-court appeals (ICAs) against the Oct 23, 2023, order of nullifying the trial of civilians by military courts involved in the May 9 violence.

During the hearing, Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan underscored the need for clarity regarding the apparent lacuna in the Pakistan Army Act 1952 (PAA), which does not explicitly define the term ‘any person’.