CJP expects no civilian trial in military courts during SC hearing

Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial on Monday said that he expected that no civilians would be tried in military courts while the matter was before the Supreme Court (SC).

He made the remarks as a six-member SC bench, comprising himself, Justice Ijazul Ahsan, Justice Muneeb Akhtar, Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi and Justice Ayesha Malik, heard pleas challenging the military trial of civilians.

Earlier, Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Usman Awan relayed the government’s objections to Justice Shah’s inclusion in the bench, saying that one of the petitioners, ex-CJP Jawwad S Khawaja, was related to him.

Subsequently, Judge Shah recused himself from hearing the case.

Originally, a nine-bench bench had been constituted to hear the case. However, on the first hearing, Justice Qazi Faez Isa had said he did not consider the SC bench “a bench“. Justice Sardar Tariq Masood had also raised his objections.

During the hearing, CJP said “I expect that no military trial [of civilians] will be conducted while proceedings are ongoing.” Adding that all the 102 people currently in the military’s custody should be allowed to meet their families.

The PTI chief’s lawyer, Hamid Khan, came to the rostrum at the start of the hearing and said that a number hadn’t been assigned to their plea. However, the CJP said the court would come to this issue later, adding that the judges had come back after recovering from a “setback”.

“Instead of arguments, other tactics are being used here,” Justice Bandial said. He noted that the plea filed by the PTI chief raised several requests but Khan told the court that he would only focus on the one against military trials.

Subsequently, lawyer Salman Akram Raja, representing petitioner Junaid Razzak, came to the rostrum. He referred to the British and American constitutions in his argument.

“Has anyone’s trial in [military court’s] begun,” CJP Bandial asked, to which Raja answered in the negative. The top judge then told the lawyer to not talk based on assumptions.

“In this way, the trial of military officers will also be discussed in the future,” Justice Bandial said. He noted that tomorrow was the court’s last working day and told the lawyer to talk about relevant matters.

He also questioned how Article 175(3), which mandates the complete separation of the judiciary from the executive, was applicable in this case.