A six-judge bench of the Supreme Court in Pakistan on Wednesday, December 13 suspended its own past ruling and allowed the trial of civilians in military courts. The majority ruling of the country’s highest court was widely condemned by opposition political parties and human rights activists.
The judgment paves the way forward for the trial of opposition party leaders and members in these military courts. The ruling allows such trials on the condition that the final verdicts would be conditional on the Supreme Court’s orders which may be passed in the future.
On October 23, a five-judge bench of the court, in an unanimous ruling, had nullified such military trials. The court had ordered that those civilians should be tried in criminal courts under laws governing such matters.
The October verdict was welcomed by the activists and lawyers as historic given the long history of military trials of civilians in Pakistan which has been ruled for decades by military regimes.
Five judges of the six-member bench on Wednesday revoked the ruling from October on various appeals filed by the Federal caretaker government and some provincial governments.
In June, Pakistan’s National Assembly had adopted a resolution seeking the trial of those accused in the May 9 violence under Pakistan Army Act, 1952. The act provides for a trial of “enemies of the state” or the members of the military in courts operating differently from the country’s legal system.
103 civilians, some of them leaders of the opposition party, are being tried by military courts for their alleged role in the attacks on military installations during the violent protests which broke out following the arrest of former prime minister Imran Khan on May 9.
The Supreme court ruling invited strong reactions from Lahore Bar Association which called for strike on Thursday, Dawn reported. The Bar Association in Sindh also condemned Wednesday’s ruling calling it a “blatant violation and disregard to the core constitutional values as enshrined in article 10 A of the constitution of Pakistan.”
Article 10-A of the 1973 constitution of Pakistan talks about citizen’s right to fair trial.
Various political leaders and human rights groups also condemned Wednesday’s Supreme Court ruling claiming that trial by military courts was tantamount to violation of fair trial and against the established regimes of human rights.
Reacting to the court ruling, Ammar Ali Jan, a member of Haqooq-e-Khalq party, posted on X that “military courts are a form of collective shame and humiliation for all those who believe in democracy.”
The main opposition party, Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) called the verdict “a judicial coup which is against the constitution and a violation of fundamental human rights.”
Munizae Jahangir, co-chair of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) said on X that, “those advocating the trial of civilians in military courts are denying citizens a right to fair trial.”
