Military trial of most of 103 May 9 suspects almost complete

ISLAMABAD: The military trials of most of 103 civilians, allegedly involved in May 9 attacks, have almost been completed, it is learnt.

An informed government source confided to The News that in around 90 percent such cases, the suspects have been found involved in the May 9 attacks on military installations. However, the verdicts in these cases are not being announced because of the Supreme Court’s order.

The SC, while suspending its prior decision to invalidate the military trials of 103 civilians, had conditionally allowed these trials. The SC had observed that the military courts would not issue verdict against the suspects till the Supreme Court’s final ruling in the matter. The SC, in mid-December last year, had adjourned the hearing of the case till third week of January 2024.

The majority 5-1 verdict, reached by a six-member bench, was the consequence of a series of intra-court appeals (ICAs), contesting the previous unanimous ruling nullifying the military trials. These appeals were filed by the caretaker federal government and the provincial governments of Balochistan, Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The bench was led by Justice Sardar Tariq Masood and comprised Justice Aminuddin Khan, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi, Justice Musarrat Hilali and Justice Irfan Saadat Khan.

Earlier in Oct 2023, a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court had declared the trial of civilians in military courts as null and void and had ordered that the 103 accused in cases relating to the violence on May 9 and 10, 2023 be tried under the ordinary criminal laws.

The court through the 4-1 majority had also declared certain clauses of the Army Act as ultra vires the Constitution and of no legal effect. The bench, which had given this verdict, was led by Justice Ijazul Ahsan and including Justice Muneeb Akhtar, Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Mazahir Naqvi, and Justice Ayesha Malik.

The petitions, questioning the legitimacy of trying civilians in military courts, were filed by former chief justice Jawwad S Khawaja, senior lawyer Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan and others.

The verdict by the Ijazul Ahsan-led bench had not only upset the government for nullifying the military trial of 103 May 9 suspects but more so because of striking down certain Army Act provisions, which were part of the statute for the last over five decades.

The striking down of the Army Act provisions had even stopped the military courts from trial of foreign spies and terrorists like Kulbhushan Yadhav. Under the Army Act, innumerable civilians have been tried during the past five decades. Those found guilty by military courts not only have the option of challenging their convictions within the military setup but they can also appeal in high courts and later in the Supreme Court.

During Imran Khan’s government nearly two dozen civilians were convicted by the military courts. Against their convictions, these civilians had filed petitions in high courts.