Judge Syed Amjad Ali Shah of Rawalpindi's Special Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) will hold a crucial hearing of fourteen May 9 rioting cases tomorrow (Saturday).
The hearing comes in the wake of the Supreme Court's Wednesday order upholding military courts trials of 105 May 9 accused. The SC has already ordered all ATCs holding trials of May 9 accused to conclude their proceedings within four months.
It is expected that an additional 25 accused individuals may be nominated for trial in military courts. A constitutional petition seeking their handover to the military could be filed at any time. The courts have been placed on alert in anticipation of this.
In all May 9 cases in the Rawalpindi Divisionexcept those involving PTI founder Imran Khan and Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshiall accused are currently out on bail.
A total of 14 FIRs were registered by various police stations in the division concerning the May 9 events, but charge sheets were only submitted after one and a half years.
To date, even the charge sheet for the GHQ attack case remains incomplete. Trials have commenced based on incomplete charge sheets. So far, 73 hearings have taken place, 3 judges have been replaced at the ATC, and jail trials have been held 15 times.
In the case filed at Railway Police Station concerning the attack and vandalism at Tarnol Railway Station, 20 PTI workers have been convicted after pleading guilty. They received six-month jail terms and fines of Rs75,000 each.
The process of distributing charge sheets continues in 12 other cases. A formal jail trial is only ongoing in the GHQ attack case, where statements of 25 out of 119 witnesses have been recorded.
However, the defense has not yet cross-examined any witnesses. Two key witnesses in this caseMagistrate Mujtaba Al-Hasan and Sub-Inspector Riazhave not appeared for the past three months. Since February 25, the GHQ case trial has been at a standstill.
Eight suspects in the GHQ Gate 1 attack, Metro Bus Station arson, and attack on an intelligence agency's office have already been tried in military courts. Of these, six were sentenced to two, eight, and ten years in prison, while two were released after serving one year each.
The convictions have been challenged in the Rawalpindi Bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC), but these constitutional petitions have not yet been scheduled for hearing.
These petitions filed more than a year back seek the military court trial records, copies of the charge sheets, sentencing forms, and summaries of evidence.
Meanwhile, the police in Lahore have requested an ATC to allow them conduct a polygraphic and photographic test of founder Imran Khan in connection with the May 9 cases.
In this regard, the prosecution has submitted an application to the ATC, stating that it is necessary to conduct the test and other examinations.
Opposing the application in his preliminary arguments, PTI founder's counsel Barrister Salman Safdar said that filing such an application after two years is an act of bad faith. The court has adjourned the proceedings until May 14.
A division bench of the Lahore High Court is going to hear on May 15 eight post arrest bails filed by Imran Khan in different May 9 cases. (WITH INPUT FROM OUR CORRESPONDENTS IN LAHORE)
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ