PHC stopped from issuing orders in cases of military courts convicts.

Byline: Nasir Iqbal

ISLAMABAD -- The SupAreme Court on Wednesday restrained the Peshawar High Court (PHC) from issuing interlocutory orders, which include grant of bail to appellants convicted by military courts on terrorism charges.

A two-judge Supreme Court bench comprising Justice Mushir Alam and Justice Qazi Mohammad Amin Ahmed asked the PHC that it could proceed on merits of the cases it was seized with, but should not issue any order piecemeal.

The directions came on the federal government's plea through 71 appeals against the November 2018 order of the PHC that set aside military courts' convictions.

The matter will be taken up again on Monday.

Attorney General for Pakistan Khalid Jawed Khan on Wednesday argued that PHC's order gave rise to apprehensions that the high court was contemplating grant of interim bails to the convicts.

'These are not ordinary convicts but charged with committing terrorism by the military courts,' the AG argued, adding that a lot many people had sacrificed their lives to get these convicts behind bars and there was every apprehension that in case of bail, they might be enlarged.

The AG also highlighted that around 296 petitions were pending with the PHC against the convictions awarded by the military courts. He argued that different benches of the high court had taken varied and conflicting views. For this reason, he added, the federal government was seeking uniform directions to be followed by the high courts in such situations.

Though the court also issued notice to the respondents who were convicts in the case, it observed that serious questions of the jurisdiction of the high court was under consideration of the Supreme Court, therefore, in these circumstances piece meal orders by the high court was not conducive.

While dictating the order, Justice Alam observed that it was the duty of the high court to do justice and the apex court had no cavil if the cases were decided by the PHC on merits. He also made it clear that the Supreme Court would not encourage a bad precedence to emerge that may load the apex court with petitions seeking restraining orders against the high courts in every other case.

The AG, however, referring to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Workers Welfare Board case, said the Supreme Court had restrained the PHC to proceed with the matter until the cases with which the apex court was seized with was not exhausted. Also, he said, the SC had partly heard the federal government in the military...