PHC adjourns hearing on military court sentences until February 12

The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Thursday stayed the commission of inquiry, which the Speaker of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly had served to probe the incidents of May 9 and 10, 2023, when violent nationwide riots broke out following the arrest of former prime minister Imran Khan.

The bench also directed counsel for all parties to assist the court with the legal aspects of the commission and the ongoing trial in future hearings before adjourning further proceedings.

The directive came during the hearing of a petition filed by the Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation (PBC), conducted by a two-member bench comprising Justice Sahibzada Asadullah and Justice Dr. Khurshid Iqbal. The hearing saw the presence of PBC’s lawyer Shabbir Hussain Gigyani, Additional Solicitor General Abdul Rauf Afridi and the Speaker’s lawyers.

Also read: PHC question May 9 commission of inquiry

The petition stated that during the violent incidents of May 9 and 10, the Radio Pakistan building was attacked and 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 a commission of inquiry, which also included assembly members.

Gigyani argued that since some members of the assembly were already named in the case, they could not act as judges in a case where they were accused.

He added that the speaker had no legal authority to set up a commission of inquiry into a case currently under trial. The notice, he said, had no legal status and was not issued under any bill.

The court stopped the commission’s work and postponed the hearing.

PHC adjourns hearing on military court sentences until February 12

The PHC bench separately adjourned the hearing of petitions challenging sentences handed down by military courts to five persons till February 12.

The petitions were filed by Rais, Adnan Ahmad, Sohrab Khan, Bashir Ahmad and Rahimullah. Barrister Aamirullah Khan Chamkani represented the petitioners while Additional Attorney General Sanaullah appeared for the federation.

During the proceedings, the petitioners’ counsel informed the court that five separate petitions had been filed against the sentences handed down by the military courts.

The Additional Attorney General told the court that in each case the sealed record had been submitted to the court and that the convicts had also appealed to the Field Marshal Court and urged the High Court to await the decisions on those appeals.

Read: PHC rejects all petitions against military court convictions

Counsel for the petitioners countered that the union had previously claimed that there was no appeal, while it now maintained that the complaints were pending. He argued that if appeals were indeed pending before the Field Marshal Court, the relevant records should be provided to the petitioners, adding that the judgments were awarded in 2024 and decisions on appeals should have been announced by now.

Justice Asadullah observed that the case could be referred back to the bench which heard the case earlier. The House of Representatives agreed with the proposal and transferred the petitions to the former court and adjourned the hearing until February 12.