State counsel told to obtain army court’s judgments
By A Reporter
RAWALPINDI, Oct 31: The Rawalpindi bench of the Lahore High Court asked the state counsel on Wednesday to obtain copies of judgments of an army court which convicted seven armymen who alleged they had been court-martialled but were not informed of the charges. They said that they had not been provided details of the court proceedings.
Admitting the petition of the seven men, High Court Judge Mr Justice Abdul Shakoor Paracha directed the counsel for the federal government Mirza Waqas Rauf to inform the court about the actual position.
The lawyer sought two days for obtaining the documents, saying he would contact the relevant authorities and would get further instructions in this regard. The hearing was adjourned till November 6.
Making the ministry of defence through its secretary a respondent, the seven ex-armymen — Muhammad Aslam Zahid, Naik Muhammad Yosuf, Tahir Maqsood, Muhammad Akram Khan, Farhad, Nasir Mehmood and Shabbir Ahmed — through their lawyer Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui moved a petition in the LHC, alleging that about two and a half years ago they had been picked up from different areas of the country by secret agencies and were subjected to severe physical and mental torture. They alleged that no reason was given for their detention and torture.
They stated that on March 1 they were awarded different sentences by the Field General Court Martial in Gujranwala and prior to their sentencing, they were held incommunicado. They said that they were removed from service in a “most clandestine manner”.
Worried about their absence, their relatives moved the Supreme Court, seeking their recovery. They were told in the Supreme Court here the seven had been tried under the Army Act and imprisoned in district jail in Gujranawala. Their relatives were not told about specifics of crimes committed by them, necessary for legal proceedings.
They maintained that their fundamental rights had been infringed upon as they had been secretly tried and charged with crimes unknown. Their appeals in the appellate court had also been rejected. They said they had tried to obtain record of the cases and proceedings but were denied their right once again.
They prayed that the ministry of defence should be directed to provide certified copies of the charge-sheets, statements of witnesses with annexures, judgments of the army court and the appellate court so that they could approach a court of law to get their grievances redressed.
