‘Army Act was violated during PTI chief’s tenure’

ISLAMABAD: Lawyer Lt. Col (R) Inamur Rahim has castigated Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan over military trials of 29 civilians during his tenure, claiming that Army Act was violated during PTI’s regime, ARY News reported.  

Inamur Rahim has filed a constitutional petition in the Supreme Court (SC) challenging the trials, convictions and sentences of 29 civilians in military courts during the government of former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party.

Speaking on ARY News programme ‘Khabbar’, the lawyer asked PTI chief to appear before Supreme Court and give reasons about the military trials of civilians during his tenure.

Giving details of the trials, Rahim said 3 out of 29 civilians were sentenced to death in the military courts while 25 of them were not allowed to fight the case. “Even their families were not informed about the military trial,” he claimed.

He further claimed that not a single first information report (FIR) was registered against the 29 civilians during the PTI regime.

The lawyer pointed out that the cases of suspects, arrested in the past few days, were sent to anti-terrorism court (ATC). “Later, the ATC transferred the cases to military courts under Army Act,” he added.

Last year, Rahim said, Justice Athar Minallah inquired about the missing persons including Mudassar Narru. “The judge directed the then cabinet to table the order before them prime minister Imran Khan,” he added.

However, he regretted, the PTI government failed to provide response to Minallah’s orders. “Army act was violated during the PTI chief’s tenure,” he said, adding that Article 10 and 10A were also violated during PTI regime.

He also said that he had filed the constitutional petition in the Supreme Court (SC) for 29 civilians – who according to him were innocent and not presented before civilian court.

“The PTI chief has not obeyed any court order during his tenure”, he said, adding that no action was taken during that time because Faiz Hameed and Qamar Bajwa were on the same page.

Earlier in the day, lawyer Inamur Rahim filed a petition in the Supreme Court (SC) against the PTI chief, former Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Retired Qamar Javed Bajwa and former Director General Inter-Services Intelligence (DG ISI) Lt Gen Retired Faiz Hameed.

READ: Military courts trial: Justice Afridi urges CJP Bandial to form full court

The petition stated that 29 civilians faced court martial from military courts when PTI chairman was serving as the prime minister of the country. It stated that civilians were given penalties through military courts by taking them into illegal custody during PTI chief’s era.

It further stated that the PTI chief, Qamar Javed Bajwa and Faiz Hameed violated the constitutional rights of the nationals. The petitioner sought nullification of the penalties and military courts’ verdicts during the PTI government.

READ: No civilian under trial in military courts, AGP tells SC

The petitioner also sought the top court to order commencement of criminal proceedings against them over the violation of the civilian rights.