ISLAMABAD: Members of the civil society moved the Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday seeking live broadcast of proceedings for the intra-court appeals filed by the federal government challenging the earlier apex court verdict declaring military trials of civilians as ‘unconstitutional’.
The application was moved by lawyer Faisal Siddiqi, who contended that the government’s decision to conduct military trials of civilians, “including political leaders and workers, in relation to events arising out of the 9th and 10th May, 2023, under the Pakistan Army Act, 1952, in an unprecedented manner was a matter of grave public importance and was a violation of fundamental rights guaranteed under, inter alia, Articles 9, 10-A, and 25 of the Constitution, 1973″.
The application further informed the SC that it had itself, on November 23, declared the civilian trials regarding the events of May 9 “unconstitutional, illegal, and of no legal effect”, and had instead issued directives to try the accused in criminal courts.
“Court-Martial/Military Trials of civilians in times of peace is a blatant violation of the rule of law, as more than a hundred civilians have been illegally arrested and detained,” the application stated, adding that live telecasting the proceedings at least would ensure “transparency”, and “propagate the democratic principles of open justice and freedom of the press”.
The application maintained that “there cannot be a more important case in contemporary Pakistan than this present case as it involves the upholding of the foundational principles of the rule of law, the supremacy of the Constitution, and enforcement of fundamental rights”.
Stating that in order to dispel any existing false or misplaced apprehensions and to reassure the public of the upholding of the principles of law, Constitution, and justice, the live broadcast is of utmost importance.
Advocate Siddiqi remarked that the impugned order has created apprehensions as “sitting government as well as state officials severely and irrationally criticised it and prayed that the grant of the application is essential to do complete justice and for the ends of justice”.
The petition urged that the matter be referred to the Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa for appropriate orders on this application as the granting of this application also involves administrative matters.
