Military court case: SC rejects plea of injunction

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has rejected the request to stop the proceedings of the military courts on the assurance of the Attorney General in the military court trials case.

The Attorney General has made three assurances regarding the people under the custody of the army. The Attorney General said that according to the law, all the requirements of the trial will be fulfilled, and the investigation regarding the accused is going on, even if the investigation is final, still time will be required in the trial, and a summary trial will not be conducted.

During the hearing, Justice Ayesha Malik inquired why 102 are being kept secret. “Is there any problem in making the names of the accused public?” she asked. “By looking at the list, everyone can say that their persons are in custody, the simple question is why the list is not being made public,” she stated.

The Attorney General said that his request is to keep this detail confidential. “We will inform the families of 102 people separately by calling them, this process will be completed in 24 hours, Justice Ijazul Hassan said that the list will be made public. So the concern will end as to who is arrested, Justice Yahya Afridi said that the problem is that if the list becomes public, the thirst of the family will increase,” he said.

The Chief Justice of Pakistan said that it is a good thing that the families should get the information before Eid, the Attorney General said that he will inform them in an hour about making the list public, health facilities are being provided, doctors are present, journalists and lawyers are present.  

The Chief Justice of Pakistan said that lawyers should have full protection. “Imran Riaz is missing, is he not in your custody? Find and recover Imran Riaz,” the CJP maintained. The Attorney General said that Imran Riaz is not in his custody, the federal government is providing full support for the recovery of Imran Riaz, he added.

The petitioner’s lawyers requested that the court stay the proceedings of the military courts until the next hearing. The Supreme Court rejected the request to stay the proceedings of the military courts. All the requirements of the trial will be fulfilled, and the investigation regarding the accused is going on, even if the investigation is final, still time will be required in the trial, the summary trial will not be done.

The Attorney General said that even if the trial starts, the accused will be given time to get lawyers, the Chief Justice of Pakistan said that the accused should be provided with a copy of the charge.

The Chief Justice of Pakistan said, “We are not giving an injunction now, I will be available after Eid, if there is any important development, I can be informed. The government should cooperate to remove the concerns of the people. Yes, otherwise concerns arise.”

The court adjourned the hearing of the case against the trial of civilians in military courts till the third week of July.