The Supreme Court has reserved its verdict on the plea to constitute a full court in the civilians’ military trial case. The verdict will be announced tomorrow, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

The court staff informed that the verdict on the request to form a full court bench would be pronounced at 11.30 am tomorrow.

During the hearing of the case, Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial remarked that they would consult each other and, if the consultation process was completed in 10 to 15 minutes then they would inform and if the consultation process was delayed then we would announce the verdict tomorrow.

Apart from lawyer petitioner Faisal Siddiqui, all other petitioners reposed their confidence in the 6-member bench.

Petitioners' counsel Salman Akram Raja, Supreme Court Bar Association counsel Abid Zuberi and chairman PTI's counsel Shoaib Shaheen opposed the full court plea.

Salman Akram Raja said that he supports Aitzaz Ahsan and that this case should be decided soon.

Earlier, the Supreme Court heard a set of petitions challenging civilians’ trials in the military courts.

A six-judge SC larger bench headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial and comprising Justice Ijazul Ahsan, Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi and Justice Ayesha Malik hear the case.

At the outset of the hearing, Attorney General Mansoor Usman Awan came to the rostrum.

The Chief Justice said that Faisal Siddiqui has demanded a full court in the matter of military courts. However, the court would hear the lawyer of Jawad S Khawaja.

EX-CJP’s lawyer Khawaja Hussain Ahmed said that his client is a former chief justice but he wanted that the court should treat him like a common citizen instead of giving him special treatment.

Chief Justice Bandial remarked that former chief justice Jawad S. Khawaja is an introvert and his constitutional petition is non-political.

Then the top judge asked where Faisal Siddiqui is hiding. Siddiqui’s lawyer said that he went out of the courtroom and would be back in a bit.

During his arguments, the AGP told the court, that seven accused are involved in the GHQ attack, out of which 4 accused attacked the Army Institute while 28 accused attacked the Corps Commander House Lahore. Five accused are involved in Multan and 10 accused in the Gujranwala Garrison attack, 8 accused in ISI Office Faisalabad and five accused in PF Base Mianwali attack.

AGP Awan said that 14 accused are involved in the Chakdra attack, 7 accused are involved in Punjab Regiment Centre Mardan attack, 3 accused are involved in Abbottabad, 10 accused are involved in the Bannu Garrison attack, and one accused is involved in the ISI Hamza camp attack.

He said that the detained accused were arrested on the basis of CCTV footage and other evidence. He said that a report regarding the detained persons facing military trial has been submitted. He said that 102 people have been detained. He said that the submitted report contains a full chart and details of all the military installations which were targeted.

Justice Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi remarked what procedure was adopted to arrest the persons, on which the attorney general said that the authorities detained the persons in the light of CCTV footage and other evidence. He said that people who entered the Corps Commander House, Lahore were arrested. He said only 102 people have been arrested and utmost care was taken while making arrests.

Justice Ayesha Malik remarked that the magistrate's order did not mention the reasons for sending the accused to military courts, while Justice Mazahar Naqvi said that it seems that there are only photographs in the name of material against the accused.

While addressing the attorney general, Chief Justice Bandial remarked that it seems that he is not fully prepared for these questions. He, however, said that the court is not looking into that matter ‘We are only looking into the constitutionality of the matter’.

He said lawyer Faisal Siddiqui made a request for full court on behalf of his client, so the court would listen to Faisal Siddiqui first.

Faisal Siddiqui started the arguments on the request to constitute a full court bench. He said that his client’s petition is entirely different from the objections raised by the government on the bench. He stated three reasons for making a full court plea.

He said that even military dictator Pervez Musharraf could not oppose the full court decision, while Justice Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Yahya Afridi also talked about forming a full court. The Attorney General has stated that no person will be sentenced to death or life imprisonment and the Attorney General has also assured that a military trial will not be initiated without the court's knowledge, he added.

The lawyer went on to say that questions were raised on the legality of court decisions by politicians and ministers, when there is a risk of conflict between institutions, a full court should be formed, so it is necessary to form a full court.

The Chief Justice remarked that some judges have recused themselves from hearing the case, so how to make a full court, to which Faisal Siddiqui said that the answer lies in the FB Ali case.

Lawyer Faisal Siddiqui argued that the Supreme Court has declared in a decision that if a judge refuses to hear a case, he cannot be asked to hear that case. In judicial history, only the full court heard the military court cases. However, the government’s attitude towards the Supreme Court is contemptuous, he held.

Justice Yahya Afridi said in his remarks that the three judges you are talking about did not refuse to hear the military court case. Lawyer Faisal Siddiqui said that the manner in which the judiciary was criticized should be resolved.

Justice Mazahir Naqvi inquired whether the other petitioners have the same position, to which lawyer Faisal Siddiqui said that he is only speaking for himself, if there is a delay of a few months, there is no problem because this case is very important as it relates to the fundamental rights.

Chief Justice Bandial remarked that this is the first application for the full court, and we want to hear the stand of the rest of the petitioners as well.

At this point, Aitzaz Ahsan came to the rostrum. He said that it is quite surprising that the bench formation has been challenged at this juncture. He said that the lawyer fraternity faced jails for the supremacy of the Supreme Court and they have full confidence in the SC bench. He said that the court has included almost all available judges. After the recusal of two judges, it is almost a full court, he added.

Reporter Amanat Gishkori