Daily Times

The Supreme Court’s (SC) constitutional bench on Tuesday dismissed the objections of the registrar’s office to a petition filed by incarcerated PTI founder Imran Khan seeking a judicial commission for the events of May 9 last year.

A seven-member constitutional bench comprising Justices Aminuddin Khan, Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Naeem Akhtar Afghan, Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Hassan Azhar Rizvi, Musarrat Hilali, and Shahid Bilal Hassan resumed hearing on Imran’s petition.

The Justice Aminuddin-headed bench dismissed the objections of the registrar’s office, ordering it to assign a number to the former premier’s application and schedule it for a hearing.

Lawyer Hamid Khan appeared in the hearing on behalf of the petitioner, taking the position that it had been more than a one-and-a-half year since the May 9 event took place, arguing that the country should find out what happened on the day

“An undeclared martial law has been imposed in the country,” Hamid said, adding that the army was deployed whenever there was a call for protest.

Justice Hilali replied that “they [military forces] come by themselves in martial law”, and were not summoned. Justice Mazhar iterated that the army was summoned under Article 245 in the protests.

“In your petition, you have talked about deploying the military under Article 245 to support the civilian government,” Justice Mandokhail said, adding that such was written in the Constitution as well.

“You are making sweeping statements by calling it martial law,” Justice Mandokhail added.

Justice Mazhar told Hamid that he would have to challenge the constitutional authority under Article 245.

“How can you call a constitutional authority an undeclared martial law? How can the authority of Article 245 be questioned,” Justice Mazhar asked

Justice Mandokhail questioned Hamid about how the article was misused.

Additional Attorney General (AAG) Aamir Rehman appeared on the rostrum next and questioned how the matter was in the public interest. “Arguments are yet to be presented on this question,” he said.

Justice Aminuddin replied that only the objections of the registrar’s office were being cleared for now and the case had not been heard on its merits.

“We will listen to you. It seems as if everyone here is in a hurry,” the judge said.

Meanwhile, Hamid continued that hundreds of people, including Imran, were booked under May 9 cases. “A party is being pushed against the wall,” Hamid said.

In response, Justice Mandokhail said the first information reports filed were a legal matter and decisions on them would be taken by the courts.

Justice Hilali pointed out while talking about the application that even if a judicial commission was formed, it would only assign responsibility. “The judicial commission report would not have an impact on the criminal cases,” she added.

Justice Mandokhail asked Hamid why he had not approached the high courts in the matter, to which Imran’s lawyer said that the matter was not concerned with a province but the entire country.

“That is why we came to the SC,” Hamid said.

Hamid said that the registrar’s office objected to the petition as it did not deem it to be a matter of “public interest”.

Justice Aminuddin told him to present solid reasons for the petition, saying that on the face of it, the objections of the registrar’s office should not be dismissed.

“If you remove the objections and listen to the case on its merits, I will satisfy the court,” Hamid said.

Justice Aminuddin then told him: “You will have to satisfy us about the raised questions when the case is fixed again for hearing,” and indefinitely adjourned the hearing.

The bench also dismissed a petition by a citizen, Qayyum Khan, asking to transfer Imran from Adiala Jail to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Also, the constitutional bench rejected the plea made by lawyer Latif Khosa to transfer military trial accused to regular jails.

During the proceedings, the Additional Attorney General requested a postponement of the hearing, stating that the Defence Ministry’s lawyer, Khawaja Haris, was ill and unable to attend due to stomach issues.

The seven-member constitutional bench, led by Justice Aminuddin Khan, accepted the adjournment request and postponed further proceedings until Thursday.

The bench had been hearing a petition questioning the legality of trying civilians in military tribunals.

During Tuesday’s proceedings, Latif Khosa, representing the petitioners, called on the court to transfer detainees to civilian jails. His plea was based on the argument that such a transfer would enable detainees to have meetings with their families, which had been a source of concern for their legal teams.

However, Justice Aminuddin Khan rejected the request, stressing that the Attorney General had already assured the court that necessary arrangements for family meetings would be made. Justice Aminuddin Khan further emphasised that the focus should remain on the legal aspects of the case rather than procedural concerns.

The court has adjourned the hearing until Thursday, with further proceedings expected to clarify the legality and future of military courts in trying civilian cases.

Separately, Imran Khan has called for a judicial inquiry into the events of May 9 and November 26, urging the Supreme Court to release CCTV footage of both incidents to facilitate proper investigations, his sister Aleema Khan quoted him as saying after meeting him on Tuesday.

Speaking to the media outside Adiala Jail, Aleema emphasised that her brother had demanded that the Supreme Court take action on both incidents. She stated, “The founder of PTI has made it clear that without the CCTV footage, investigations into these tragic events cannot be carried out.”

Regarding the May 9 incident, she pointed out that Imran Khan was unaware of the full extent of the violence.

“He is unaware of how many people were martyred or injured at D-Chowk. He also does not know how many people are still missing. Over 200 PTI workers are unaccounted for, and there are concerns they may also have been martyred,” she said.

Aleema added that the PTI leadership remains deeply concerned about the missing workers. “The founder of PTI is particularly worried about those who have gone missing,” she explained.

In her statement, she also confirmed that PTI would observe December 15 as Youm-e-Shuhada (Martyrs’ Day). “On this day, PTI workers from around the world, including Peshawar, will gather for prayers to honour those who sacrificed their lives,” she said.