Imran moves SC against 'forced divorces'; Article 245 imposition.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has filed a constitutional petition in the Supreme Court against the imposition of Article 245 across the country except Sindh and ongoing crackdown on the party workers in the wake of May 9 riots.

Imran filed the petition urging the apex court to take notice of the "undeclared martial law" in parts of the country and the ongoing aggressive crackdown on his party. Imran, through his lawyer Hamid Khan, has requested the apex court to probe into the government's decision to call "in the aid of the armed forces in the Federal Capital Territory, Punjab, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) in the purported exercise of powers under Article 245 of the Constitution". "The dictated exercise of this power by the federal cabinet in the absence of objective conditions for the exercise of that power is clearly violative of the fundamental rights," the petition stated.

Imran also pleaded the SC to appoint a commission led by an SC judge to probe the events surrounding his arrest on May 9 and subsequent incidents. Notably, cases against 16 'miscreants' are scheduled to be heard by the military courts who were allegedly involved in attacking military installations and disrespecting memorials of the martyrs following the arrest of the former prime minister. Several questions were posed before the top court in the application, not only about the nature of Imran's arrest - which the SC had already declared unlawful - but also about the invocation of Army Act 1952 and Official Secrets Act 1923 against civilian offenders.

It also questioned, "whether the trial of civilian saboteurs who allegedly were involved in attacks on Corps Commander's House (which is originally Jinnah House and this a civilian house for legal purposes) is without jurisdiction, coram non judice and malafide". Furthermore, "whether the trial of civil offences committed by civilians under the Army Act is against the provisions of Article 4,9, 10 A, 14 and 25 of the Constitution read with UN Charter of Human Rights and other international charters". The petition argues that trying civilians in military...