9th May incident: SC asked to fix case of trials of civilians held by military courts

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has been asked to fix the case of trials of civilians arrested following the 9th May incident, by military courts.

The case was heard last on August 3, by a six-judge bench, headed by former Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial.

In the last hearing, Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Usman Awan informed the court that the military’s top officials and the government are seriously considering providing appeal against the verdict of the military court (MC) to the level of high court.

Petitioner Junaid Razzaq, father of Arzam Junaid, who is in military custody, approached the apex court to expedite the hearing of the case, stating that the military court trials had already begun, and requested that the case be scheduled for the third week of October.

Arzam was admittedly arrested on May 15 and was transferred to the custody of commanding officer Lahore on May 25. Hence, a period of more than four months had lapsed since the transfer of his custody to the military authorities.

The petitioner claimed that this commencement of military court trials for civilians was a clear violation of the apex court's order issued on August 3, 2023.

“As such, an early hearing of the titled petition shall be in the interest of justice, otherwise, if the trial of the petitioner's son commences and concludes in haste, the petitioner shall suffer irreparable loss,” the plea contended.

The petitioner had already filed a separate application urging the Supreme Court to immediately halt the military court proceedings in his son’s case.

It stated that contrary to the commitments made before the SC, and in violation of its orders, the petitioner came to know that trials of civilians before military courts had commenced.

The application stated that the petitioner’s son, Arzam Junaid, was also detained by military authorities for the purpose of subjecting him to a trial by military courts.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023