PHC stays another military court execution order

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Wednesday stayed the execution of another man who was awarded death sentence by a military court on charges of involvement in terrorism. The PHC had stopped serving of death sentence in a similar case on Tuesday.

The bench also issued notices to the interior ministry and superintendent of the Adiala Jail to file reply to a judicial review application.

The bench, comprising of Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth and Justice Younis Thaheem, halted the execution of Ikramullah on Wednesday, while hearing the application filed by his brother, Anwaarullah, through his counsel, Ghulam Nabi Advocate.

This is the fourth verdict of a military court the PHC has stayed recently.

Adopting the same stance as other lawyers did in similar cases, Ghulam Nabi said that the accused was neither produced in any court nor a charge sheet was there against him. The bench after hearing the arguments accepted the plea and stayed his execution. On Tuesday (yesterday) the same bench stayed execution of a suspected militant Fatih Khan, a resident of Khyber Agency, after his counsel raised objections on the same grounds.

Meanwhile, two terrorists convicted by military courts for killing two security officials were hanged early on Wednesday morning at the Kohat Central Jail. Mehmood Khawaza Khan and Rab Nawaz Shahi Room were given death sentence by military courts on the charges of killing two soldiers.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 31^st,  2016.