SC declares civilians’ trial in army courts as null and void

Islamabad: A five-member larger bench of the Supreme Court (SC) on Monday declared the trial of civilian accused of May 9 vandalism and rioting as null and void.

The court, in its 4-1 majority verdict, observed that the suspects of May 9 incidents suspects should be tried in criminal courts.

The larger bench headed by Justice Ijaz ul Ahsan and comprising Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi and Justice Ayesha Malik heard the cases and subsequently accepted the petitions while announcing the verdict.

Justice Ijaz ul Ahsan read out the short order, which was reserved earlier after the respondents concluded their arguments.

The court, in its decision, said it unanimously declared the military courts null and void. The list of 102 persons presented in the court should be tried in the criminal courts, it said, and declared as null and void the trial of any a civilian if already had already been carried out by a military court.

The court said that Section 2(1)D of the Army Act “is inconsistent with the Constitution” and also declared its Section 59(4) as void. Justice Yahya Afridi, however, reserved his opinion on declaring the sections of the Army Act unconstitutional.

Earlier, Attorney General for Pakistan Mansoor Usman Awan continued his arguments before the bench.