The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered anti-terrorism courts (ATC) hearing cases of suspects allegedly involved in last year’s May 9 riots to decide on them within four months.

ATCs across the country have been hearing cases over the alleged role of civilians in attacks on army installations during the riots that followed ex-premier Imran Khan’s arrest on May 9, 2023. Some courts have issued their judgments, while verdicts against various individuals and PTI leaders are still pending, with some being granted bail.

A three-member bench — led by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Yahya Afridi and including Justices Muhammad Shafi Siddiqui and Shakeel Ahmad — today resumed hearing a set of 20 petitions filed by the Punjab government seeking cancellation of suspects’ bails.

The bench also ordered the ATCs to submit a progress report to the chief justices of their respective high courts every 15 days.

Zulfiqar Naqvi appeared as the state counsel on behalf of the Punjab government.

Sumair Khosa was present as the lawyer for fashion designer Khadija Shah, who is out on bail in one case and had been acquitted in another. Faisal Chaudhry also appeared as a suspect’s counsel.

Among the bail cancellation pleas was also one pertaining to a case against PTI’s Punjab chief organiser Aliya Hamza Malik, according to a cause list.

The judges had also taken up the case yesterday, where the Punjab government’s counsel was given more time to reconsider the pleas.

This hearing comes amid another case being heard by the SC’s Constitutional Bench that pertains to the military trials and the subsequent sentencing of civilians for their role in attacks on army installations during the May 9 riots.

Hearing

At the outset of the hearing, the Punjab government’s lawyer told the court that the trials would be completed within three months.

However, CJP Afridi said that the courts would instead be given four months to wrap up the cases.

At this, Khadija’s lawyer said: “How will the trial be completed in four months? There are numerous cases against my client.”

Chaudhry also raised concerns over the time period, stating, “There are 35 cases against us. The trials won’t be completed in such a short time.”

Responding to Justice Afridi inquiring him about which suspect he was representing, Chaudhry replied that he was the lawyer for former PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry, who he said was a co-suspect in a case.

Noting that a case related to Fawad was not listed for hearing today, the CJP stated: “We will not hear you as your case is not fixed for hearing.” Chaudhry then requested the court to also fix his client’s case for hearing.

At one point during the hearing, the top judge recalled that he was the chief justice of the Peshawar High Court when the case of university student Mashal Khan’s lynching was decided “within three months”.

Here, Khosa requested the bench that Khadija’s fundamental rights be protected, to which CJP Afridi replied: “Have trust in the ATCs. Let the cases proceed.”

The bench observed that the lawyer was fearing that his client’s right will be affected “based on a certain impression”.

During the hearing, the chief justice noted the court was informed that the ATCs and high courts “did not review the evidence properly”. At this, Additional Prosecutor General Wajid Gillani stated that testimonies of 28 witnesses had been recorded so far.

Subsequently, the bench ruled that the ATCs should reserve the verdicts within four months and present a progress report to chief justices every 15 days.

The court highlighted that it was clearly written in the law that ATCs should hold trial hearings on a daily basis. It further ordered: “The suspects’ rights should not be affected due to other cases before the trial court.”

Punjab incurred loss worth Rs197m during May 9 riots

The Punjab government also said that the province incurred losses worth Rs197 million due to the vandalism and violence on May 9, 2023.

According to a report submitted to the constitutional bench by the provincial government, 24,595 suspects involved in the incident were still at large, while 9,319 cases were registered in 38 districts across Punjab.

The report added that 11,367 suspects were arrested.

It said that a total of 152 policemen and five civilians were injured, whereas four civilians were also killed in the incident.