Deadlock persists between government and the opposition over grant of extension to the military courts, with Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) publically opposing the idea of extending their tenure once again.
While the current tenure is set to expire in March this year, military courts are faced with a daunting task of deciding 185 terrorism-related cases during this period.
The government has already formed a committee to convince opposition parties on the issue as it requires a two-thirds majority in parliament to grant further extension to the military courts.
Sources informed Daily Times that interior ministry has stopped refereeing cases to the military courts. A source close to Prime Minister Imran Khan said that government may opt for presidential ordinance if the deadlock persists for the time being. “The prime minister understands the importance of military courts in delivering speedy justice in terrorism-related cases. He can go extra mile to make sure that these courts keep working,” he said.
According to the Inter-Services Public Relations, a total of 717 terrorism-related cases were sent to the military courts by the federal government since their establishment. The courts finalized 546 cases, wherein death penalty was awarded to 310 terrorists while 234 were awarded rigorous imprisonment.
Published in Daily Times, January 28th 2019.