The Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP) on Wednesday referred the case to the judges’ committee for the formation of the larger bench in connection with the civilians’ military trials.
A six-judge apex court bench, led by Justice Aminuddin Khan and including Justices Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Hassan Azhar Rizvi, Shahid Waheed, Musarrat Hilali and Irfan Saadat Khan, presided over the proceedings.
This case stemmed from the nullification, on October 23 last year, of military trials for 103 civilians allegedly involved in the May 9 vandalism, which erupted after the arrest of the PTI founder
The apex court ruled unanimously that the accused should be tried in criminal courts rather than military ones. However, on December 13, in a 5-1 majority verdict, the Supreme Court conditionally suspended its earlier ruling.
As the proceedings commenced on Wednesday, the Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) disclosed that 20 of the 103 accused had been released before Eid.
When questioned by Justice Ali Mazhar about whether these released individuals faced other charges, Aitzaz Ahsan intervened, highlighting that they had been labelled as convicts and yet were now seemingly in hiding.
Justice Aminuddin inquired whether the boy mentioned by Aitzaz Ahsan was among the 20 released before Eid, which he confirmed.
The court ordered the AGP’s statement to be included in the record and requested copies of the military courts’ verdicts to understand the trial procedures. Khawaja Ahmad Hussain, representing Justice Jawad S Khawaja, objected to the six-member bench hearing ICAs and urged the matter be referred back to the committee for the constitution of a nine-member larger bench.
