SBC calls for united front as it voices concern over SC’s military trials judgment

The Sindh Bar Council (SBC) on Thursday said the Supreme Court’s majority judgment in the military trials case not only undermines the principle of due process, open trial and impartial adjudication but also erodes the sanctity of the civilian supremacy.

Adopting a resolution, SBC Vice Chairman Shafqat Rahim Rajput and Executive Committee Chairman Mohammad Saeed Abbasi expressed concern over the SC’s five-member majority judgment on amendment to the Army Act and said that by extending military jurisdiction over civilians, this verdict paved the way for further repression of political dissent, free speech and peaceful protest compromising the fundamental rights of the citizens.

The SBC said that it considered amendments to the Pakistan Army (amendment) Act 2023 as unconstitutional and violative of the Articles 4, 10-A, 16, 18, 19 and 19-A of the Constitution.

The SBC said that trial of civilians under the military laws and before military tribunals violated the Articles 4, 10, 25, 175 and 202 of the Constitution and Pakistan’s international treaty and convention obligations.

The bar council said that after the 18th amendment, the right to fair trial and determination of any criminal charge had become a constitutional guaranteed fundamental right and the SC’s majority judgment was in complete derogation of such principles.

The SBC expressed concern over the judgment and said that the judgment had ignored various pronouncements of the Supreme Court. It said the Supreme Court’s larger benches in several other lending cases had held that access to justice was a fundamental right and it included the right to trial before an independent court or tribunal within the adjudicatory hierarchy specifically envisaged within the constitution.

The bar council was of the view that the Supreme Court had already held in a judgment that military trials of civilians were absolutely not permitted within the scheme of the Constitution and military tribunals could not be considered truly independent of the executive.

The SBC said the Supreme Court’s five-member majority judgment was in clear deviation of the SC’s judgments in Mahram Ali, Sheikh Liaquat Hussain and Rawalpindi District Bar Association cases along with full bench verdict of the Lahore High Court in Darwesh Arbey case.

The bar council said the Supreme Court’s five-member judgment had also ignored the findings of a larger bench in the Rawalpindi District Bar Association case wherein 14 out of 17 judges of full court had held that the independence of the judiciary was an essential feature of our Constitution and even constitutional amendments could be struck down if it curtailed such independence.

The bar council called upon all bar councils and association across the country to form a national united front against the constitutional encroachment by the SC. The SBC also called upon civil society, human rights organisations, media and people of Pakistan to resist such judicial surrender under the pressure of the establishment and reclaim the Constitution from creeping authoritarianism. It said every citizen has a right to fair trial which cannot be curtailed or snatched away. The SBC stated it would continue lawful resistance to oppose the 5-member judgment. It added that it would also not allow subversion of the Constitution under the guise of national security.