ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court's constitutional bench has fixed hearing of petitions challenging civilians trials in the military courts and seeking probe into the alleged rigging during the February 8 general elections for January 7, according to a cause list issued on Thursday.

A seven-member constitutional bench headed by Justice Amin-Ud-Din Khan will hear the petition challenging civilians' military trial next week. Alongside Justice Amin, the other jurists in the bench included Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi, Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan, Justice Musarrat Hilali and Justice Shahid Bilal Hassan.

Last month, the Supreme Court’s constitutional bench granted conditional permission to military courts to announce verdicts in cases involving 85 suspects — allegedly involved in the May 9, 2023, riots. In its order on the hearing of the appeals against civilians' military trial, the constitutional bench had said judgments of military courts would be conditional to the top court verdict on the cases pending before it.

Subsequently, the military courts sentenced 85 PTI activists for two to 10 years of “rigorous imprisonment” for their involvement in the May 9 protests, marking the conclusion of trials for those held in military custody over the attacks on army installations and monuments.

Earlier today, military accepted mercy pleas of 19 out of the 67 convicts sentenced in the May 9 riots case on "humanitarian grounds", the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said.

The top court, in its unanimous verdict by a five-member bench, on October 23 last year declared civilians' trials in military courts null and void after it admitted the petitions challenging the trial of civilians involved in the May 9 riots.

Additionally, the constitutional bench would also take up constitutional plea against alleged rigging during the February 8, 2024, nationwide elections filed by incarcerated former premier Imran Khan.

The miscellaneous petition seeking the "constitution of judicial commission consisting of Supreme Court judges to probe" the 2024 general polls would be heard on January 7. The incarcerated PTI founder had moved the Supreme Court in March 2024, requesting the formation of a judicial commission to "inquire, audit and examine" the manner and process of the February 8 general elections held in the country.

The petition, filed by senior lawyer Hamid Khan on behalf of the PTI founder, urged that the apex court form of a judicial commission — consisting of serving SC judges holding no bias towards anyone — to "inquire, audit and examine the manner and process of general elections of 8 February 2024 and the developments that took place thereafter of compiling false and fraudulent results rendering winners into losers and losers into winners".

Published in The Daily National Courier, January, 03 2025

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