Countering terrorism: Welfare body challenges setting up military courts

Petitioner claims military courts are against democracy.

KARACHI: The government's proposal to establish military courts to counter terrorism finally landed in the Supreme Court.

Pasban, a religious social welfare body, challenged the proposal in the apex court on Wednesday.

It named the secretaries of the interior, the defence and law ministries as respondents. Altaf Shakoor, the group's president, submitted that the government had held a meeting attended by all political parties, Chief of Army Staff and others, where it was decided to establish military courts to curb militant activities. Shakoor claimed that while the law enforcing agencies had failed in protecting the people, the army was dealing with militants effectively on the borders. He argued that collecting evidence and convicting culprits was the responsibility of the law enforcers. If the police failed to conduct proper investigation and the cases fail, the courts cannot be blamed.

He alleged that instead of removing such deficiencies in the police and agencies, the government was setting up military courts in the presence of existing judicial system. He said the military courts were being established to cover up the follies of the police and other agencies, adding that a number of the legal experts had condemned the formation of military courts declaring it to be detrimental to the country’s existing system.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 1^st, 2014.