PHC stays K-P Assembly May 9 commission

Court questions speaker's authority, halts inquiry amid ongoing Radio Pakistan attack trial

PESHAWAR:

The Peshawar High Court (PHC) has stayed the functioning of the inquiry commission formed by the Speaker of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly to investigate the May 9-10 incidents, while instructing lawyers of all parties to assist the court on the legal aspects of the commission and the ongoing trial in future hearings. The court also adjourned further proceedings.

The directive came during the hearing of a writ petition filed by Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation, conducted by a two-member bench comprising Justice Sahibzada Asadullah and Justice Dr Khursheed Iqbal. The hearing saw the presence of PCB's lawyer Shabbir Hussain Gigyani, Additional Advocate General Abdul Rauf Afridi, and the Speaker's law officers.

The petition stated that during the violent incidents of May 9-10, the Radio Pakistan building was attacked and severely damaged. Following the attack, a case was registered against the accused under anti-terrorism provisions, including current members of the provincial assembly. On December 12, the Speaker issued a notification forming an inquiry commission, which also included assembly members.

Shabbir Hussain Gigyani argued that since some members of the assembly are already named in the case, they cannot act as judges in a matter in which they are accused. He added that the Speaker has no legal authority to establish an inquiry commission for a case currently under trial. The notification, he stated, has no legal standing and was not issued under any proposed law.

The court agreed, halting the commission's operations and adjourning the matter for further hearing.

Meanwhile, PHC on Thursday adjourned until February 12 the hearing of writ petitions challenging the sentences awarded by military courts to five individuals.

A two-member bench comprising Justice Sahibzada Asadullah and Justice Dr Khurshid Iqbal heard the petitions filed by Rais, Adnan Ahmad, Sohrab Khan, Bashir Ahmad and Rahimullah. The petitioners were represented by Barrister Aamirullah Khan Chamkani, while Additional Attorney General Sanaullah appeared on behalf of the federation.

During the proceedings, counsel for the petitioners informed the court that five separate writ petitions had been filed against the convictions handed down by military courts. The additional attorney general told the bench that in each case the sealed record had been submitted to the court and that the convicts had also filed appeals before the Field Marshal Court, urging the high court to await decisions on those appeals.

The petitioners' counsel countered that earlier the federation had claimed no appeals were pending, while now it maintained that the appeals were under consideration.