Fair trial: Larger SC bench to take up military court appeals

ISLAMABAD:

A larger bench of the Supreme Court will examine whether those convicted by military courts have been provided a fair trial as per their rights or not next week.

The five-judge bench – headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Anwar Zaheer Jamali and comprising justices Mian Saqib Nisar, Amir Hani Muslim, Ejaz Afzal Khan and Mushir Alam – will take up the matter on February 18.

The case was earlier being heard by a two-judge bench, headed by Justice Gulzar Ahmed. On December 7, the bench asked for the complete military court record of the conviction of Haider Ali and Qari Zahir Gul but referred the matter of appeals challenging the fair trial aspect to the CJP for forming a larger bench. The bench also suspended Ali and Gul’s death sentences and issued notices to the army chief, the Peshawar corps commander, general officer commandant, attorney general and others.

These petitions were moved by Ali and Gul’s mothers, who were represented by renowned lawyer Asma Jahangir.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 12^th,  2016