Special courts: Another ATC for capital

ISLAMABAD:

The federal government on Wednesday made functional another anti-terrorism court (ATC) in the capital in order to achieve speedy disposal of cases, revealed a court official.

The first ATC in the city was established in 2012 and since then, Judge Kausar Abbas Zaidi had been hearing 40 cases related to terrorism. However, the government, through the Ministry of Law and Justice, has constituted another court to ease case load, said the official.

The Islamabad High Court IHC issued a notification appointing the new ATC judge, Sohail Akram, who will hear 19 cases while the ATC-1 will hear 21 cases. “The cases have been divided to share the burden and this will help clear the backlog,” explained the official.

The newly-appointed judge will hear the Mumbai attacks case, Bhara Kahu imambargah attack case, district courts attack case and the judge’s detention case against former president Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf, among others.

Moreover, the ATC-1 is already conducting the trial of PTI chief Imran Khan, vice-chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Pakistan Awami Tehreek chief Dr Tahirul Qadri and others for attacking the PTV building and Parliament House in August last year.

In November 2014, the court had issued their non-bailable arrest warrants and Khan and Qadri were declared proclaimed offenders.

Lawyers have appreciated the decision, saying this would help dispose of cases swiftly. “I believe one ATC was not enough for the city and this was the need of hour,” said Barrister Afzal Hussain.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 15^th, 2015.