SC bench hearing pleas against military courts dissolved again

ISLAMABAD: A-seven member bench hearing pleas against trials of civilians in the military courts on Monday dissolved again as Justice Mansoor Ali Shah recused himself from hearing on reservations raised by the federal government.

On June 22, a seven-member bench was constituted after a nine-member bench was dissolved following objections raised by Justice Qazi Faez Isa and Justice Sardar Tariq Masood.

At the outset of the hearing, Attorney General of Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Awan raised an objection to the presence of Justice Mansoor Ali Shah on behalf of the federal government.

One of the applicants in the pleas against military courts is Justice Shah’s relative, his conduct might be affected, AGP said.

CJP Justice Umar Ata Bandial remarked the bench cannot be constituted on your ‘choice and will’. “Avoid defaming judiciary”, CJP remarked.

There is a series of raising objections over the SC hearing important cases from the Punjab election date case, the CJP said and added to let the honorable judge decide about the presence in the bench.

Meanwhile, Justice Mansoor Ali Shah excused himself from the hearing of the case. “I cannot remain part of the bench after objections.”

Bench controversy

At the outset of the hearing, Justice Qazi Faez said he was surprised after seeing his name in the cause list last night. The senior-most judge after CJP remarked the SC Practices and Procedure Bill was suspended by an eight-member bench of the apex court even before letting it become law.

“I am not a part of the bench hearing the [case related to] Supreme Court Practice and Procedure Bill so I will not make any remark about it,” the senior-most SC judge said.

The judgment passed by my bench on March 5 was ‘scrapped’ through a circular released by the SC registrar, Justice Qazi Faez Isa said.

He questioned if this was the importance of a decision made by the apex court.

Justice Qazi Faez Isa said he cannot remain part of the bench as he does not consider it a ‘bench’. I will not be part of any bench until the decision is reached on the Supreme Court Practices and Procedure Bill, he added.

“I’m leaving this bench.”

The pleas

The petitions against military courts were filed by former CJP Jawwad S. Khawaja, Aitzaz Ahsan, Karamat Ali, and PTI Chairman.

Former chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) Jawwad S Khawaja challenged the trial of civilians in military courts in the Supreme Court (SC), demanding to declare the move ‘unconstitutional’.

The petition named the Federation of Pakistan through secretaries of law and justice, interior, defence, and chief secretaries of Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh and Balochistan as respondents in the case.

CJP Jawwad Khawaja, in his plea, maintained that the trial of civilians by military courts in the presence of civilian ones is unconstitutional. The plea contended that proceedings of a court-martial were only appropriate and lawful in the case of army officers.

The plea demanded to declare “any proceedings against civilians on the basis of the impugned sections unlawful”. It prayed the court should direct that such civilians be transferred to the competent civilian authorities for appropriate proceedings before ordinary criminal courts.

The petition came after Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan filed a similar petition in the Supreme Court, challenging the trials of civilians in military courts.