May 9 violence Pak SC rejects to form full court for hearing pleas against trial of civilians in military courts

Islamabad, Aug 2 (PTI) Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected a plea to form a full court for the hearing of multiple petitions against the trial of civilians, arrested in connection with the unprecedented May 9 violence, in military courts.
     Pronouncing the verdict, Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial said the bench discussed the formation of a full court but decided against it. A six-member bench led by the Chief Justice had reserved its judgment on Tuesday on the issue of the full court.
     The pleas were filed by multiple petitioners, including Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman, former chief justice Jawwad S Khawaja, and Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (PILER) Executive Director Karamat Ali.
     “We have seen that a full court was formed in the past but it could not sustain in such circumstances,” Bandial said, adding that a full court was not available until September.
     Declaring that it was “impossible to hear the case by forming a larger bench”, the chief justice said the bench “leaves what is right and wrong to history”.
     “We will continue our work whether someone likes it or not,” he concluded and started hearing the main case about the trial of civilians in the military courts.
     Pakistan saw unprecedented nationwide anti-government protests following the arrest of PTI chairman Khan by paramilitary Rangers in a corruption case on May 9. The 70-year-old former prime minister was later released on bail.
     Dozens of military installations and government buildings, including the military headquarters in Rawalpindi, were damaged or torched during the riots. Over 100 vehicles of police and other security agencies were set on fire.
     After the May 9 violence, the police backed by the military launched a crackdown on the PTI and arrested 10,000 party workers, including women. Though the majority of them were either released by various courts and some were facing trial in the traditional courts, at least 102 suspected of attacking military installations were handed over to the army for their trial under the Army Act.
     The PTI contests that its members were not involved in the attacks, but the government and military reject the claims and say they have "irrefutable evidence" of their involvement.
     Khan is also facing numerous cases related to attacks on military installations. Currently, he is facing over 150 cases related to terrorism, murder and blasphemy. He is reportedly under virtual house arrest at his private residence.
     Khan was ousted from power in April last year after losing a no-confidence vote in his leadership, which he alleged was part of a US-led conspiracy targeting him because of his independent foreign policy decisions on Russia, China and Afghanistan. The US has repeatedly dismissed his allegations.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)