The Pakistan Supreme Court has made a conditional decision to permit the civilian trial in military court, temporarily suspending its previous unanimous ruling from October 23 that had invalidated the jurisdiction of military trials for civilians.
In a six-member bench, the court voted 5-1 in favor of the verdict, with Justice Musarrat Hilali dissenting. The decision was announced during the hearing of a series of intra-court appeals challenging the prior order.
Interestingly, Attorney General Mansoor Awan advocated for the conditional resumption of military court trials of civilian suspects, prompting the court to grant conditional permission for continuing trials. However, the military courts are not authorized to issue a final verdict against the suspects.
Furthermore, the court clarified that the ultimate judgment would be contingent upon subsequent orders from the Supreme Court. The Pakistan Army controlled caretaker federal government, along with provincial administrations in Pakistan-occupied Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Punjab, alongside the defense ministry, had collectively appealed against the prior judgment by filing intra-court appeals.
The recent judgement yet again underscores that the law in Pakistan is conveniently modified as per the requirement of the authoritarian Pakistan Army. Civilian trial in military court is clearly a violation of the human rights of the people.