ISLAMABAD: Justice Rauf Ahmed Sheikh of Lahore High Court’s Rawalpindi bench on Thursday dismissed petitions of five convicts, including the mastermind of GHQ attack, seeking copy of their trial proceedings conducted by field general court martial.

The petitioners were Aqeel Ahmed alias Dr Usman, the mastermind of the GHQ attack; Khalilur Rehman, Mohammad Usman, Tahir Shafiq and Wajid Mehmood. The court ruled that under article 199 (3) of the constitution, it could not proceed with the matter.

However, their counsel - Tariq Asad, Colonel (retired) Inamur Rahim, Nadeem Shah and Sardar Abdul Hafeez - said they would file an-intra court appeal before a two-member bench of the LHC.

Advocate Rahim told Dawn that Justice Saghir Ahmed Qadri earlier had directed the naval authorities to provide copy of the trial proceedings to the accused in an identical petition and on the basis of that they would request the division bench to revisit the decision of Justice Sheikh.

The FGCM on August 11 awarded death sentence to Ahmed, life imprisonment to Wajid, Khaliq, Usman, 10-year’s imprisonment to Adnan and seven years each to Shafique and Imran in the charges ranging from desertion, murder, taking hostages and terrorism to attacking the armed forces at the GHQ on October 10, 2009.—A Reporter