Plea calls military trials in presence of civilian courts unconstitutional, says should be declared illegal former chief justice of Pakistan Jawwad S Khawaja has also challenged the trial of civilians in military courts.
A petition on behalf of the former CJP was filed in the Supreme Court through lawyer Uzair Chughtai. The petition maintains that the trial of civilians by military courts in the presence of civilian courts is unconstitutional, adding such a trial should be declared illegal.
The petition has made the Ministry of Law, and the Ministry of Defense parties to the case. The former CJP has also made the provincial governments of Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh and Balochistan parties in the petition.
Earlier this month, a Peshawar High Court judge had remarked that there is a need to interpret the Constitution in the military court trials of cases of those civilians accused of attacking sensitive installations.
A division bench of the PHC comprising Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim and Justice Sahibzada Asadullah was hearing the petitions filed against trials of civilians in military courts.
“These cases require interpretation of the Constitution,” Justice Ibrahim remarked. He further noted that under the army’s Official Secrets Act, a court-martial is held. “How can cases of civilians be tried under the Official Secrets Act,” Justice Ibrahim questioned.
