Courts of convenience

In what marks a troubling moment for Pakistan's democratic trajectory, the Supreme Court has ruled in favour of military trial of civilians, upholding the military court convictions of PTI activists accused of attacking military installations during the May 9, 2023 unrest.

By a 5-2 majority, the Constitutional Bench on Wednesday overturned an earlier 4-1 ruling that had declared such trials unconstitutional. That the judiciary has now created legal space for civilians to be tried by military officers is ultra vires of the Constitution. Two judges dissented, contending to stand by the foundational legal principle. The Constitutional Bench did allow an independent right of appeal in the high court to the military court convicts. But this only appear as an attempt to give some semblance of constitutional respect to an otherwise disconcerting judgement.

The judiciary, instead of acting as a bulwark against executive overreach, appears to be capitulating to it. For PTI, this ruling is yet another blow in a long sequence of political battering. With many of its supporters already sentenced behind closed doors, the party faces not only the erosion of its support base but also the systematic dismantling of its legal recourse.

More concerning is the dangerous precedence being set. If military courts can now be used to try civilians, who is to say where the line will be drawn? Today it is the PTI. Tomorrow, it could be the ruling party of today. And then, journalists, civil society members, or any dissenting citizen.

The essence of justice lies not in punitive efficiency but in transparent and impartial adjudication. Military courts, by their very nature, fail this test. Their closed proceedings make them incompatible with any serious notion of justice. Fair, thus, to say that the Constitutional Bench ruling appears more aligned with power than with principle?