ISLAMABAD: On a request by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) seeking clarification from the government on the possible military trial of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan, Additional Attorney General (AAG) Munawar Iqbal Duggal informed on Tuesday. the court that no did not issue a decision. accepted so far in this regard. The High Court hearing the former prime minister’s plea had on September 16 directed the defense ministry to take a clear stand on his military trial at the next hearing on September 24 (today), for which the ministry had sought time. The PTI founder filed a petition against the military trials in the May 9 case, which saw vandalism of military installations after his arrest in the 2023 graft case. Khan’s petition came in the wake of statements by senior government officials, including Defense Minister Khawaja Asif and Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, fueling rumors of his military trial over his alleged involvement in the May 9 riots. It is pertinent to know that in July 2023, an anti-terrorism court in Lahore – in a four-page written verdict – said there were reasonable grounds to link the PTI founder with the May 9 incidents. Meanwhile, the Additional Attorney General said legal action would be taken against Khan if any decision was taken on Khan’s military trial. “If a military trial is decided, the case will first be presented to a civilian judge,” he said. After that, IHC judge Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb disposed of the PTI founder’s petition. In addition to the AAG, a representative of the Ministry of Defense was also present at the hearing. It should be noted that the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM)-led government has initiated military trials of those involved in targeting state and military installations in the 2023 riots. The case ended up in the Supreme Court, which on 23 October 2023 declared the trials of civilians before military courts invalid, a verdict later overturned by the Supreme Court in December by a 5-1 majority decision. The majority order was announced following internal appeals filed by the federal and provincial governments and the Ministry of Defense against the Supreme Court’s verdict. The verdict of 13 December 2023 stated that the military trials would be conditional on the supreme court’s final verdict on the domestic lawsuits. During the hearing on September 16, Justice Aurangzeb asked about the procedure for handing someone over to military custody. “To date, the Ministry of Defense has no information about the military detention and trial,” he said, adding that nothing had been submitted to the Ministry on the matter. The Additional Attorney General said, “If any application is made, action will still be taken in accordance with the law.” To this Judge Aurangzeb said that he had nothing to proceed with in this case. The court then asked the Ministry of Defense to transfer the civil trial to a military court. A spokesman for the Ministry of Defense said they had a “very clean procedure”. “If the PTI founder is issued a notice before the military trial, then the case will be closed,” Justice Aurangzeb said, adding that the civil court would first sign the charge sheet as per the procedure. If the trial court said the case should be sent to a military court, then a notice should be issued first, he added.
