Legal fraternity welcomes military courts in G-B

Raise reservations over the mechanism to establish them in the region.

GILGIT: Lawyers in Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) have hailed the decision of extending army courts to the region, but say the proposed mechanism to establish military courts through the G-B Council is illegal and unconstitutional.

“The step is welcome as it is a timely one in the prevailing circumstances of G-B, but the proposed method is unconstitutional and illegal,” G-B Bar Council’s Vice President Shehbaz Khan told The Express Tribune while referring to the federal government’s decision.

“The G-B Council has been formed by the Ministry of G-B and Kashmir Affairs through an executive order under the G-B Governance Order 2009,” Khan added. He said the status of the G-B Council is neither like a ‘constitution’ nor a ‘law’.

“If the military courts are formed through the G-B Council, it will not be a permanent setup,” said Khan. He insisted G-B is not part of Pakistan’s Constitution.

Similarly, the G-B legislative assembly and council do not have powers to draft a constitution for the region. “The solution to setting up military courts is that the G-B Governance Order 2009 should be issued under Article 258 of the Constitution through a presidential order as proposed by lawyers earlier.”

Khan also stressed the upcoming elections in G-B should be held for the constituent assembly instead of the legislative assembly.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 16^th, 2015.