LAHORE: A Lahore High Court full bench on Friday sought assistance from the attorney general, the judge advocate general of the Pakistan Army and the Ministry of Defence to decide whether officers of the armed forces can bring cases of their service to ‘civil judicial forums’ other than military courts.

The bench headed by Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah was hearing dozens of petitions moved by officers of the army, navy and air force, terminated for agitating their service matters before ordinary courts.

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Counsel of a terminated squadron leader, Akhtar Abbas, the main petitioner, argued court-martialling of armed forces’ officers for approaching the judiciary was a violation of fundamental rights under the Constitution of Pakistan. He said every citizen had a constitutional right to move courts for justice. The counsel asked the bench to set aside conviction of the petitioners by military courts and order their reinstatement.

A deputy attorney general told the bench that sub-section 3 of Article 199 of the Constriction barred high courts from hearing service issues of the armed forces.

The petitioner’s counsel pointed out that there were many complex judgements on the matter by superior courts. Some judgements maintained the jurisdiction of high courts to hear such matters, while some ruled otherwise.

Justice Shah observed that the points raised in the petitions required more interpretation. He issued notices to the country’s principal law officer, judge advocate general and the Defence Ministry for Dec 5.

Justice Shujaat Ali Khan and Justice Abid Aziz Sheikh were other members of the bench.

Published in Dawn, November 1st, 2014