Political analyst and PTI chief Imran Khan’s brother-in-law Hafeezullah Niazi has also petitioned the Supreme Court to stop the trial of the May 9 rioters under the Pakistan Army Act, 1952, and the Official Secrets Act, 1923, arguing that no parallel judicial system can be established under the Constitution.
Former premier Imran, senior politician Aitzaz Ahsan, and members of the civil society have all filed petitions against the decision of civil and military leaders to court-martial the alleged PTI supporters who vandalised and set fire to military properties after Imran’s arrest on May 9.
These petitions are being heard by a larger bench of the Supreme Court, consisting of six justices.
Niazi has invoked Article 10-A, which ensures the right to a fair trial, in his plea. His son, Hassaan Khan Niazi, is also among the persons who are currently in the custody of the military pending their court-martial.
He has argued that it is unconstitutional to bring civilians like his son before military courts under the Pakistan Army Act, 1952, citing Articles 4, 9, 10, 10A, 14, 19A, 25, and 175.
Niazi has stated that Pakistan’s obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 1966, and other treaties, decrees, and charters are violated when civilians are tried in military courts.
The political scientist is also concerned with how the previous parliament accepted changes to the army statute and the official secrets act, and she wants the court to rule that these changes are unconstitutional.
Moreover, he has asked the court to issue a writ of prohibition against the establishment of military tribunals and the referral of civilian cases for trial in the military court, “at least for the offences allegedly committed during the May 9 incidents.”
Niazi has copied an August 17 letter from an officer informing him of his son’s incarceration.
Learn More Hassaan Niazi, Imran’s nephew, has been turned over to the military for trial, the LHC reported.
As such, “the act of transferring him [Hassaan] to the military by the police should also be declared unconstitutional.”No one involved in the May 9 events deserves to be tried before a military court. He has called for their transfer from military to police custody.
Hassaan was turned up to the military for prosecution on August 18. Imran’s nephew was found hiding out at a friend’s house in Abbottabad and promptly apprehended. He was eventually transferred from K-P police to Balochistan police, who returned him to Punjab police custody.
A group purportedly led by Hassaan marched from Lahore’s GPO Chowk Mall Road to the Jinnah House, the residence of the Lahore Corps Commander, on May 9. The building was subsequently ransacked and vandalised.
