The appeals of all appellants, including the Ministry of Defense and the Martyrs Foundation, against a previous Supreme Court ruling concerning the trial of civilian suspects implicated in the alleged May 9 terrorism and arson attack on PTI employees in military courts have been accepted by the Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court. In its brief ruling, it upheld the Army Act’s provisions pertaining to civilian defendants’ trials in military courts and ruled that the statute governing the prosecution of civilian defendants in military tribunals is accurate. Two judges disagreed with the ruling.
The Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court has accepted the appeals of all appellants, including the Ministry of Defense and the Martyrs Foundation, against a prior Supreme Court decision pertaining to the trial of civilian suspects involved in the alleged May 9 terrorism and arson attack on PTI employees in military courts. It concluded in its brief opinion that the statute governing the prosecution of civilian defendants in military tribunals is correct and affirmed the Army Act’s provisions dealing to civilian defendants’ trials in military courts. The decision was contested by two judges.
In a ten-page majority ruling, Justices Aminuddin Khan, Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Hassan Azhar Rizvi, Musarat Hilali, and Shahid Bilal accepted all of the appeals. In contrast, Justices Jamal Khan Mandokhel and Syed Muhammad Naeem Akhtar Afghan filed a separate note expressing their dissension from the majority ruling. Following the court’s decision, the Army Act will allow for action against future civilian suspects, and the special courts’ jurisdiction will not be affected.
