Justice Mandokhail, Justice Naeem declare civilians' trial in military courts unconstitutional

Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail and Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan of the Supreme Court of Pakistan have ruled that civilians’ trial in military courts is unconstitutional.

In their dissenting note on a petition challenging the court order against civilians’ trial in military courts, they said that civilians cannot be court-martialled. The 36-page dissenting note written by Justice Mandokhail says that sentencing of people in May 9 cases and their trial are declared null and void. It says it is correct that the rate of sentencing in criminal courts is very low, but the criminal courts are capable of dispensing justice. The note says the Supreme Court of Pakistan is reviewing decisions of the lower courts.

The Supreme Court has observed that most acquittals are happening in politically motivated unfounded cases. Such cases are the result of unprofessional investigations and weak prosecution. Intra-court appeals were filed by the federation, Punjab and Balochistan governments. It appears that unfortunately these governments do not have confidence in the criminal courts anymore. Sadly, these elected governments have eroded the confidence in the criminal courts.