PHC moved to oppose possible clemency to ex-TTP spokesman

Father of martyred APS student seeks
Ehsanullah Ehsan’s trial in military court

PESHAWAR: The father of one of the martyred students of the Army Public School on Tuesday filed a writ petition in the Peshawar High Court (PHC) seeking orders of the court to restrain the government from granting clemency to Ehsanullah Ehsan, the former spokesman of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, and instead try him in the military court.

Fazal Khan, who is a practicing lawyer and father of Sahibzada Umar Khan, the martyred grade-8 student, filed the writ petition under Article 199 of Constitution. The Government of Pakistan through secretary Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Defence through secretary Defence, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government through chief secretary, Director General Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Chief of Army Staff and Ministry of Law, Human Rights and Parliamentary Affairs through its secretary were made respondents in the petition.

The petitioner claimed that he had been informed by reliable sources that clemency is in order for Ehsanullah Ehsan for his "full and frank disclosure." He said this is not only highly deplorable but also illegal and unconstitutional.

In the four-page writ petition, he submitted that he has been making hectic efforts to see that the culprits behind one of the darkest days in the history of the province are met with justice so that the children of other parents do not go through the unimaginable ordeal suffered by the petitioner and his family and numerous other parents in the tragic incident.

"Even though the petitioner had lost his eldest son in the APS incident, he was neither given the right to lodge the First Information Report nor given an opportunity to exercise his right under Section 164 CrPC to nominate the culprits of this tragic and barbaric act of terrorism on the pretext that the issue pertained to a sensitive issue and after due inquiry and investigation the culprits in the case will be dealt with appropriately," the petitioner noted in the petition.

The petitioner said, "It is pertinent to note that on the very next date of the incident, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan through Ehsanullah Ehsan victoriously claimed responsibility for the brutal incident and affirmed to carry out more attacks in future through media and other channels of communication.

The petition noted that the state through the respondents also affirmed and verified that TTP had carried out this barbaric attack. It was submitted that after a long period of almost three years, the principal accused and mastermind of the APS tragedy Ehsanullah Ehsan alias Tariq has surrendered or has been captured by the law-enforcing agencies giving some hope to the petitioner that the perpetrator of the APS incident would be brought to justice.

"Unfortunately to the utmost surprise and disappointment of the petitioner the said Ehsanullah Ehsan far from being brought to the aisles of justice is being portrayed as an unaware, innocent and brainwashed man who had inadvertently masterminded the slaughter in the APS and many other terrorist activities in the country in general and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in particular," the petition said.

It was explained in the grounds of the petition that in any case under the Qisas and Diyat Ordinance, it is exclusively for the Wali to forgive an accused, and in this particular case the state is not the Wali and thus has no legal authority to forgive an accused.

"Ironically, it was for such people that constitutional amendment was made to ensure trials before the military courts for waging war against Pakistan and its citizens, but now notwithstanding the same, Ehsanullah Ehsan is being offered clemency," it added.