The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf has challenged the implementation of Article 245 across the country in the Supreme Court.
The petition has been moved by PTI’s Additional Secretary General Omar Ayub Khan on behalf of the party and seeks the top court’s intervention under Article 184(3).
“Such trials are highly deprecated internationally and widely considered as falling short of providing fair trial,” the petition stated.
It further stated that “they constitute a violation of Pakistan’s obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) which has been ratified by the country,”
It maintained that the “trial of thousands of workers of a political party (or a political leader) through such courts is unheard of in the history of this country”.
“The workers and supporters now sought to be tried through military courts are not part of any terrorist organization and pose no threat to national security. Thus it is contrary to the Constitution to try civilian protestors thorough military courts”, added the petition.
The party also challenged the deployment of the armed forces under Article 245 of the Constitution in Punjab, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), and the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT).
The petition added that federal government’s requisition of the armed forces in order to quell and repress their political opponents purely to disable them from exercising their constitutional rights is a gross violation of Article 17 of the Constitution.
On May 9, PTI Chairman Imran Khan was arrested from the Islamabad High Court, and following his arrest, protests broke out throughout the country with many military installations attacked as well — including the corps commander’s house in Lahore and the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi.
Following the violent protests, the military was called in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, and Islamabad to maintain the law and order situation.