Civilians trial in military courts: PTI terms SC verdict historic

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) spokesperson highly appreciated the Supreme Court bench decision, declaring the trial of civilians in the military courts as void ab initio and unconstitutional and described it as historic.

PTI spokesperson, in his reaction to the ‘landmark decision’ on Tuesday, said that the historic judgment of the apex court was an important step towards the supremacy of the constitution and upholding the rule of law in the country. He said that the SC bench testified to PTI’s stance through its important decision, adding that the development of Pakistan lay in the restoration of the supremacy of the constitution.

He underlined the need that the issue of holding free, fair and transparent elections also needed to be settled at the earliest so as to protect people’s right to vote. He emphasized that the apex court would also have to take immediate steps to ensure the basic constitutional and fundamental rights of the citizens. “Time is ripe to provide instant justice to the innocent citizens trapped in the clutches of the blind political revenge,” he noted. He expressed optimism that the highest court of the country would fulfil the aspirations of the nation and would tolerate no laxity to stop the ongoing deviations from the constitution by making all the state institutions exercise their powers within the constitutional ambit.

Meanwhile, PTI Spokesperson for Legal Affairs Barrister Gohar Khan strongly rejected the suspension of the sentence of the ‘convicted criminal’ in the Al-Azizia reference by the illegal caretaker government of Punjab, saying it was another shameful addition to the political engineering under which convicted Nawaz Sharif was brought back to the country under the state asylum.

Gohar Khan said that the Punjab unlawful caretaker government directly attacked the law by suspending Nawaz Sharif’s sentence. He made it clear that the caretaker government of Punjab had no authority to suspend the sentence of a convicted criminal under the NAB law. Under the law, no provincial government had any authority to reduce, suspend or terminate the sentence of an offender convicted under federal law. He reminded that Nawaz Sharif was convicted in Al-Azizia reference under the NAB Act, which was a federal law.