1995 coup plotters: Supreme Court dismisses review pleas

The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed set of pleas seeking a review of its earlier order of rejecting appeals of a number of former army officers against their convictions by a Field General Court Marshal (FGCM) for staging a coup to overthrow a PPP government led by Benazir Bhutto during 1995. A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, dismissed the pleas as not pressed by the counsel.
The review pleas were moved by Major General Zaheerul Islam Abbasi(Retd), his wife Shahida Zaheer, Brigadier Mustansir Billah (Retd) and Colonel Inayatullah Khan (Retd) against convictions. The bench told their counsel Wahabul Khairi to indicate how his client was aggrieved by court's order. The bench indicated that the plea had become infructuous as his client had already completed the jail term. And upon bench's queries, he agreed not to press forth with his contentions.
The bench also advised him to approach the proper forum over stoppage of pension of his client. However, the bench on an appeal of colonel retired Inayatullah Khan, issued notice to Attorney General for Pakistan for rendering assistance. During previous hearings, the bench had issued notices to the legal heirs and respondents on a separate plea of Major General Zaheerul Islam Abbasi (Retd) over stoppage of pension and confiscation of property.
His counsel Habib Wahabul Khairi had told the bench that his client died and his appeal was moved against the court martial in the Supreme Court, but it had never been taken up for hearing in the last 15 years. He contended that Major General Abassi's assets had been confiscated contrary to the relevant army rules. The Supreme Court had earlier rejected the appeal of Major General Abbasi (Retd) which was moved in 1997 when he was awarded a seven- year jail term by an FGCM.
The appeal was dismissed on grounds that it was outside the purview of the civilian courts. Major General Abbasi (Retd), Brigadier Mustansir Billah, two colonels and about 38 other military officers were arrested on September 26, 1995, on charges of plotting to storm a meeting of corps commanders scheduled to be held on September 30 at the general headquarters in Rawalpindi.
The alleged plan included assassination of prime minister Benazir Bhutto and the then army chief General Abdul Waheed Kakar, senior cabinet ministers and military chiefs, besides, proclamation of 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.
On his witness, the FGCM awarded a seven-year imprisonment term to Major General Abbasi (Retd), when a large cache of arms and military uniforms were confiscated. The FGCM also awarded 14-year jail term to Brigadier Mustansir Billah for his alleged involvement. Qari Akhtar disappeared from Afghanistan, but was arrested from the UAE in 2004 and handed over to Pakistan.
His name was also mentioned by Benazir Bhutto in her last book `Reconciliation: Islam, Democracy and the West' in which she said that she had strong reasons to believe that Qari Akhtar's coterie wanted to kill her. Qari Akhtar was again arrested in Lahore on February 26, 2008, for his alleged involvement in an attempt to target late Benazir Bhutto in Karachi on October 18, 2007, during her homecoming procession.