RAWALPINDI, July 27: The Rawalpindi bench of the Lahore High Court on Tuesday dismissed for lack of jurisdiction cases of six army officers arrested for allegedly violating the Army Act.
"The jurisdiction of the court could not be invoked because the officers were arrested under the Army Act," a division bench of the High Court, comprising Justice Akhtar Shabbir and Tanveer Bashir Ansari, announced in a short order. The court had reserved its judgment which may be released in a few days.
Earlier, Deputy Advocate-General Chaudhry Mohammad Tariq and Judge Advocate-General Brig Ayyub arguing before the court had contended that the army officers had been detained under Section 2 (d) of the Army Act 1952, a provision which bars the High Court to intervene in the matter.
They also said it was due to the sensitivity of the matter that the government could not give the reason of their detention in writing. Petitioners' counsel, Mohammad Ikram Chaudhry, Taufeeq Asif and Hasnain Chohan, had challenged the government's stance by contending that the government itself was violating the Army Act by keeping the officers in solitary confinement, some of them for almost two years.
The government had failed to bring any charges against them before the court and was also reluctant to share with the court any information about the whereabouts of the officers, the counsel had contended.
They said the court could decide only after knowing about the charges against the officers. The lawyers had termed the officers' detention against the Constitution and basic human rights and asked the court to facilitate meetings of the officers with their families.
Separate petitions had been filed by the families of Lt-Col Abdul Ghaffar Khan, Col Khalid Abbas, Maj Attaullah Khan, Maj Rohail Faraz, Maj Adil Qadoos Khan and Capt Usman Zafar.
FAMILIES' REACTION: Minutes after the court announced its verdict, Mohammad Ikram Chaudhry, along with the families of the detained armymen, held a press conference outside the court.
They expressed their disappointment over the decision and vowed to challenge it in the Supreme Court soon after getting copies of the detailed judgment. The families said they were disappointed, but had not lost hope. Mohammad Ikram Chaudhry said the decision had increased doubts in the minds of people, who were already questioning the role of the judiciary in such cases.
OTHER PETIONTIONS: The court also dismissed, under the Army Act, a petition filed by Sadia Sarwar Bhatti, wife of Ghulam Sarwar Bhatti, who has been detained for the last seven months in connection with an attempt on the life of Gen Musharraf near Jhanda Chichi bridge, Rawalpindi. Petitions filed by the families of four other persons were also rejected under the act.
