A nine-judge Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial will take up on today Thursday a set of four petitions challenging the trial of civilians in military courts. The larger bench will include Justice Qazi Faez Isa, Justice Sardar Tariq Masood, Justice Ijazul Ahsan, Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Yayha Afridi, Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, and Justice Ayesha Malik.

These petitions were filed by former CJP Jawwad S. Khawaja, Aitzaz Ahsan, Karamat Ali, and PTI Chairman Imran Khan. Mr Khawaja, who filed the petition through his counsel Advocate Khawaja Ahmad Hosain on Tuesday, requested the Supreme Court to declare the trial of civilians by the military courts unconstitutional. The former CJP pleaded that Section 2(1)(d)(i) and (ii) of the Pakistan Army Act were inconsistent with the fundamental rights conferred by the Constitution and therefore void and should be struck down.

Likewise, Aitzaz Ahsan, who has also served as a former law minister and also spearheaded the 2007 lawyers movement, explained that the primary purpose of his petition was to ensure that none of the thousands of civilians who have admittedly been arrested for allegedly having partaken in the May 9 violence and being nominated for trial before the military courts be tried by the military courts.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-INP