Govt decides to refer 29 cases to military courts

90 more cases to be transferred after cabinet's approval

ISLAMABAD: The federal government has decided to refer 29 cases of suspected terrorists to military courts two days after army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa voiced concern over drying up cases at the special courts.

An official source told The Express Tribune that in July the interior ministry had considered recommending the federal government to transfer these cases to the military courts.

However, as the ruling party was busy dealing with the Panamagate case, it was unable to give priority to transferring the cases, the source said.

He went on to say that the government not only took notice, but action as well, soon after Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa, through a demi-official letter, drew Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi’s attention to the matter.



The source said the 29 approved cases would be transferred to the General Headquarters (GHQ) JAG branch soon, and from there they would be analysed and according to relevance transferred to 11 military courts across the country.

The cases were originally sent to the interior ministry by the provincial governments as they pertained to major incidents of terrorism in the respective constituencies.



Furthermore, a committee was formed under the interior secretary to monitor and accordingly send such cases to either military or anti-terrorism courts.

The committee has so far analysed more than 90 cases that will be presented in the next federal cabinet meeting, so that they can be deliberated upon by the federal government and then transferred to military courts in line with the law.