The Supreme Court’s Constitutional Bench (CB) gave its go-ahead on Wednesday for civilians involved in the May 9, 2023 riots to be tried in military courts, Aaj New reported.
On Monday, upon the conclusion of Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP)’s arguments, the bench decided to pass a short order within this week.
A seven-judge Constitutional Bench, headed by Justice Aminuddin Khan, and comprising Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi, Justice Musarrat Hilali, Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan, and Justice Shahid Bilal Hassan had been hearing the case since November 2024.
Last year in December, the constitutional bench of the SC, conditionally allowed military courts to announce the verdict of remaining 85 persons, still in army custody for their alleged involvement in 9th May, 2023, riots.
Following this, military courts sentenced 85 civilians to prison terms ranging from 2 to 10 years for their involvement in violent attacks.
It also pardoned 19 civilians convicted for their involvement.
Background
Former chief justice of Pakistan Jawwad S Khawaja, senior lawyer Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan, and the members of civil society filed petitions under Article 184 (3) of the constitution before the apex court, asking it to declare that the trials of the civilians arrested in light of the May 9 and 10 protests under the Army Act and Official Secrets Act are in violation of Article 25 of the constitution, until and unless legal and reasonable guidelines are framed to structure the discretion not to arbitrarily try civilians under the Army Act.
On May 9, following arrest of the PTI chief from the premises of Islamabad High Court (IHC), PTI supporters thronged the streets in protest.
The protesters damaged several military and state installations, including the Corps Commander’s residence (Jinnah House) in Lahore and the gates of the military’s General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi.
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