Intra-court appeals against civilian trial in military courts, information of 103 people sought till Thursday
How many of the detainees will be acquitted, how many will be sentenced to a few months and how many will be sentenced to five years, Supreme Court.
A person may be sentenced for six months and be in custody for one year, we want to protect the basic human rights of people, Justice Aminuddin Khan
This is a federal business, in which provincial governments or private individuals can be affected parties, Justice Shah Duheed.
Among the families of 103 arrested persons, 10 to 20 people can come to the court room to watch the court proceedings, remarks.
Confirmation of the death sentence received by the military court has to be done by the Army Chief, the Attorney General’s position
ISLAMABAD ( Web News )
The Supreme Court of Pakistan has directed the Attorney General of Pakistan, Barrister Mansoor Usman Awan, to provide information by Thursday regarding the 103 people arrested in the May 9, 2023 tragedy, how many of them will be acquitted, and how many will be sentenced to a few months. Others will be sentenced up to five years. While Justice Aminuddin Khan has said that a person may be sentenced to six months and be detained for one year, we want to protect the basic human rights of the people. While Justice Shah Duheed raised a question regarding the filing of review petitions by private individuals and provincial governments and said that this is a federal matter, in which provincial governments or private individuals can be affected parties. While the court has declared that the decision regarding showing the direct action of the case will be made at the next hearing. The court has declared that 10 to 20 people from the families of the 103 arrested people can come to the courtroom to watch the court proceedings. While Attorney General Mansoor Usman Awan told the court that the trial of 103 people has ended after the last hearing, however, the decision is in the context of the decision of the Supreme Court. Not pronounced, the confirmation of the death sentence received by the military court has to be done by the Army Chief. While objecting to the formation of the bench on behalf of the defendants, they have requested to form a larger bench consisting of 9 members or the judges who gave the first decision. A 6-member larger bench consisting of Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi, Justice Shahid Waheed, Justice Musrat Hilali and Justice Irfan Saadat Khan, headed by Senior Supreme Court Judge Justice Aminuddin Khan, on behalf of the Supreme Court, indicted 103 accused involved in the May 9 tragedy. Heard 45 intra-court appeals filed against the trial being declared illegal in military courts. Appeals Secretary, Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of Pakistan, Islamabad, Federal Government through Ministry of Defence, Rawalpindi, Federal Government of Pakistan, through Secretary Interior, Islamabad, Province of Punjab, through Secretary Punjab, Lahore, Province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, through Chief Secretary, Peshawar, Province of Balochistan Chief Secretary Services and General Administration Quetta, Shahada Foundation Balochistan through Patron-in-Chief Jamal Khan Raisani, and others on behalf of former Chief Justice of Pakistan Jawad Saeed Khawaja, Barrister Chaudhry Aitrazahsan, Junaid Razzak, Karamat Ali, Zaman Khan Wardag, Supreme Court Bar Associates Association of Pakistan and others. On behalf of the parties, Khawaja Haris Ahmed, Hamid Khan Advocate, Salman Akram Raja, Abed Shahid Zuberi, Uzir Karamat Bhandari, Faisal Siddiqui, Muhammad Usman Mirza, Khawaja Ahmed Hussain, Shamail Ahmed Butt. , Sikandar Bashir Mohmand, Ajmal Ghaffar, Dr. Yasir Aman Khan and others appeared as lawyers while Attorney General Barrister Mansoor Usman Awan and Advocate General Khyber Pakhtunkhwa appeared on court notice. At the beginning of the hearing, Khawaja Ahmad Hussain, the lawyer of the petitioner, Justice (Rtd) Jawad S. Khawaja, objected to the size of the bench. Allow the families to come to the courtroom to watch the hearing. Barrister Chaudhry Aitraz Ahsan said that the families of 103 people can come to the courtroom and also in the gallery. On this, Justice Aminuddin remarked that the courtroom is full, where will they be seated? There is no objection to coming to the court, we look into their case, suggest how they can be accommodated. Appearing on behalf of Lahore High Court Bar Association and Lahore Bar Association, senior lawyer Hamid Khan Advocate said that they have filed 6,6 applications to become parties on behalf of both bars. Justice Mohammad Ali Mazhar said that the case has been decided by a five-member bench. Hamid Khan said that a larger bench comprising all the surviving judges should be formed. Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar said that the Supreme Court forms three-member committee benches under the Practice and Procedure Bill 2023. During the hearing, Salman Akram Raja, giving arguments on video link from Lahore, requested to form an 8-member bench to hear the appeals. While Faisal Siddiqui advocate presented arguments and said that my requests are with reference to getting the services of private lawyers on behalf of the government. Faisal Siddiqui said that when the Attorney General has filed appeals on behalf of the government, then the government should not waste money on private lawyers. Jawad Khawaja’s lawyer said that the bench should request the Chief Justice and the three-member committee that this is a matter of constitutional and political importance, so an eight-member bench should be formed to hear the petitions. Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar said that now the intra-court appeals are under hearing, the main case has been decided, go to the past, focus on hearing the intra-court appeals. Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar while talking to Jawad Khawaja’s lawyer Khawaja Ahmad Hussain said that he had requested the Chief Justice or the committee to form a larger bench. On this, Khawaja Ahmad Hussain said that I had requested to form a 9-member larger bench. Khawaja Ahmad Hussain said that people should not get the impression that if there was a 9-member bench, the decision would have been different. Justice Aminuddin Khan while talking to Khawaja Ahmed Hussain said that he should not speculate about things. During the hearing, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government requested to withdraw the appeals filed against the annulment of the trial of the civilians in the military courts. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government’s lawyer Additional Advocate General Syed Kausar Ali Shah presented the resolution of the provincial cabinet in the court. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government’s lawyer pleaded that they want to withdraw the intra-court appeals. Appeals cannot be withdrawn on the resolution, it would be appropriate to file a formal application to withdraw the appeals. Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar said that if there is objection to the bench, then apply to the three-member committee. Justice Aminuddin Khan called the Attorney General to the rostrum and said that the Attorney General should come and talk about the work. Attorney General Mansoor Usman Awan told the court that after the last hearing, the trial of 103 people was over, but the decision was not pronounced in the context of the Supreme Court’s decision. Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar asked what is the acquittal rate. Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi while talking to the Attorney General said that how many people do you have? Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar said that the order will be submitted, not announced. Faisal Siddiqui said that we have no objection regarding issuing orders regarding acquittal. Justice Aminuddin Khan said that Chaudhry Aitzazahsan and Faisal Siddiqui are judicial assistants. Justice Aminuddin Khan said that under Section 426 the court can suspend the punishment. On this, Aitzazah Hassan said that a short sentence of 3 to 5 years can be suspended. Justice Aminuddin Khan said that we will stipulate in our decision that appeals against the sentences will not be filed until the court decision. Justice Aminuddin Khan said that a person may be sentenced for six months and be in custody for one year, we want to protect the basic human rights of the people. Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, speaking to Atarani General, said to take instructions from the relevant authorities. Justice Irfan Saadat Khan said to make a summary and bring that they are going to be acquitted and they are going to get a short sentence. Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar said that the hearing will be held the day after tomorrow. Aitzaz Hasan said that the convening officer has to issue the decision if the army chief has convened then he will issue the decision and if any other officer has done it then he will issue the decision. The Attorney General said that confirmation of the death sentence has to be done by the Army Chief. Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar said that how many of the 103 civilians can be acquitted and how many have a good case to be acquitted. Justice Aminuddin Khan said that we do not want incomplete things to come. Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi said that we are not saying about the people against whom there is material. Aitzazahsan said that Field General Court recommends martial punishment but its confirmation does not come for a year. Justice Aminuddin Khan asked the lawyers that no one objected to the requests to become a party. No one objected to it. Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi said that my idea is to show Tuna directly. Justice Shahid Waheed said that this is a matter of the federal government, how the requests of private persons and provincial governments have come, it can be filed by the federal government, what is the work of private persons and provincial governments. Justice Aminuddin Khan said that he will hear the application on Thursday regarding showing the live action of the case. Later, the court asked the Attorney General for details regarding the persons eligible for acquittal out of the 103 people under custody. Justice Aminuddin Khan remarked that how many accused have been punished? Also tell me how many accused have been acquitted? The Attorney General said that the trial has been completed but the court had stopped the final decision, the court said you should take instructions. Later, the court adjourned further hearing on the applications till Thursday (March 28) while sending notices to the parties. ZS