The Supreme Court’s constitutional bench on Friday conditionally allowed military courts to pronounce reserved verdicts of 85 civilians who were still in custody for their alleged involvement in last year’s May 9 riots.
The bench specified that the verdicts of the military courts would be subject to its final decision on the appeals against the Oct 23, 2023 ruling.
Announcing the verdict, Justice Aminuddin Khan, who is heading the constitutional bench, said, “Suspects who can be accorded concessions in their sentences, should be given so and released.
“Suspects who cannot be released should be moved to jails once their sentence has been pronounced,” he ordered.
The development came as a seven-judge bench resumed hearing a case pertaining to the trial of more than 100 civilians for their alleged role in attacks on army installations during the riots that followed ex-premier Imran Khan’s arrest on May 9, 2023.
In a widely praised ruling last year, a five-member SC bench — comprising Justices Ijazul Ahsan, Munib Akhtar, Yahya Afridi, Syed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi and Ayesha Malik — had unanimously declared that trying the accused civilians in military courts violated the Constitution.
The apex court had declared that the accused would not be tried in military courts but in criminal courts of competent jurisdiction established under the ordinary or special law of the land.
However, on December 13 last year, in a 5-1 majority verdict, the SC conditionally suspended its own Oct 23 ruling — albeit by a different bench — pending a final judgement as it heard a set of intra-court appeals (ICAs).
More to follow
