Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial on Thursday said the armed forces would not be allowed to take \u201cunconstitutional steps\u201d as a six-judge bench indefinitely adjourned the hearing on a set of petitions challenging the trials of civilians in military courts.<\/p>\n
The bench, headed by the top judge, comprised Justice Ijazul Ahsan, Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi and Justice Ayesha A. Malik.<\/p>\n
A day earlier, the apex court had rejected a plea, filed by senior counsel Faisal Siddiqi on behalf of civil society activists, to constitute a full court for the case.<\/p>\n
During today\u2019s hearing, the CJP expressed regret and grief over the events of May 9 and stressed that he didn\u2019t want the \u201carmy to raise their weapons against the people of Pakistan\u201d.<\/p>\n
He said armed forces should be praised for not opening fire on civilians despite the violence on May 9, recalling that people in Mianwali had broken into and attacked army installations. \u201cHowever, the military will not be allowed to take any illegal steps,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n
Justice Bandial further said the court was of the opinion that there was a further need to hear Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Usman Awan\u2019s arguments but contended that the court would not be able to do so for at least two weeks due to the unavailability of judges.<\/p>\n
\u201cAGP sahib, no military trials of civilians will be conducted,\u201d he told Awan, to which the latter responded in the affirmative and added that assurances were given over the same.<\/p>\n
Subsequently, CJP Bandial said the Supreme Court\u2019s (SC) order on the provision of facilities to the suspects in custody will still remain applicable.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt would have been great if everyone abided by the law and Constitution,\u201d the chief justice stated. \u201cWe respect those who cooperate with the court, and also those who do not cooperate with us,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial on Thursday said the armed forces would not be allowed to take \u201cunconstitutional steps\u201d as a six-judge bench indefinitely adjourned the hearing on a set of petitions challenging the trials of civilians in military courts. The bench, headed by the top judge, comprised Justice Ijazul Ahsan, Justice […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":253312,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-346927","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-national"},"yoast_head":"\n