Supreme Court of Pakistan Issues Written Order on Civilian Trials in Military Courts

The written order has been issued by the Supreme Court of Pakistan in the case challenging the trial of civilians in military courts. The order was issued on April 24th which details the hearing and court observations.

Attorney General Directed to Submit Trial Records

During the hearing, the Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Usman Awan submitted a list of 20 individuals who have been released. The court asked AGP to submit the records of these individuals’ trials in the Supreme Court and also provide the verdicts in the cases of these 20 people.

Concerns Raised and Larger Bench Requested

Lawyers of the petitioners objected in this regard during the hearing. Khwaja Ahmad Hosain, who is a part of the petitioner’s team referred to the order from the previous hearing and raised objections. They also argued for a larger bench as well but this time not alone Salman Akram Raja and Aitzaz Ahsan also submitted applications in support of forming a larger bench.

The bench also realized the sensitivity of the matter and referred this option to assemble a larger bench or not to the case-fixing committee. This committee will analyze the arguments of lawyers in detail and decide what should be done next.

Justice Hasan Azhar Rizvi, while acknowledging the gravity of the case in terms of civil liberties issues, has stressed that the matter need to be resolved as soon as possible. He ordered to list the case for hearing again at their earliest.