Ex-army official seeks concessions in court martial sentence

Former Havaldar calls for suspension of military court verdict

ISLAMABAD: A former army official moved the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Saturday seeking some relaxations to his sentence handed out by a military court for passing on secret information “useful to enemy” and cigars to Indian officers in exchange for liquor.

Rasheed Ahmed, an ex-Havaldar currently imprisoned at the Kot Lakhpat jail in Lahore, was shot and injured while attempting to cross the Pakistan-India border at Kasur on April 11, 2011, before being arrested. He was on three-months leave at the time of his arrest.



He was subsequently presented before a military court which charged him with giving Moore Cigars to Indian army officers and sharing secret information while taking Indian liquor from them. He was tried and convicted in July 2012 for “civil offences” under section 59 of the Pakistan Army Act, 1952. He was dismissed from service, his rank was reduced and was subsequently sentenced to seven years in prison.



On Saturday, Ahmed petitioned the IHC against his sentence through his counsel Muhammad Asif Gujjar. In his petition, Ahmed listed the federation through secretary defence, registrar of the Judge Advocate General department at the General Headquarters Rawalpindi, Punjab home secretary, senior medical officer of the Kot Lakhpat jail as respondents.

Gujjar said that the petitioner had first approached the Lahore High Court (LHC) seeking bail on medical grounds but his petition was returned with directives to approach the military court.

Several applications sent to the military court received no reply.

When a judge of the LHC visited the jail and found Ahmed in deplorable conditions, he was provided treatment at the CMH in Lahore.

But after returning to prison, his condition began to deteriorate again.

Gujjar claimed that while sentences of other inmates were reduced on occasions such as Eid and other national holidays, his client was not extended the same facility.

He said that it is settled law that six-months after being convicted by the army, a court-martialed convict is treated like a regular civilian.

In the petition, Gujjar argued that neither was his client’s sentence commuted nor was he being granted bail on medical grounds by either the military or civil courts.

Curiously, Ahmed stated in the petition has not denied the charges levelled against him nor has he requested to set aside the military court verdict.

While requesting the court to take notice of several articles of the Constitution being violated, he prayed the court to suspend the sentence and release him on bail. He has also requested the court to commute his sentence based on the reliefs announced by the government from time to time.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 2^nd, 2016.