KARACHI: As the Supreme Court of Pakistan upheld the establishment of nine special courts, the Sindh police on Thursday decided to ‘re-examine’ all terrorism cases on the basis of severity of the crime committed before recommending them to the home department for trial in the military courts, officials and sources said.

The move, they added, was likely to add a few recent cases to the previous list of over 60 cases, which had been prepared before the 18th and 21st Amendments were challenged in the apex court.

The decision was taken after a detailed discussion at a meeting, which was chaired by Sindh IG police Ghulam Haider Jamali, held at the central police office. The meeting was attended by Additional IG (special branch) A.D. Khuwaja, Additional IG of the counterterrorism department Sanaullah Abbasi, additional IG (operations) and deputy inspector-general, according to an official statement.

“The Sindh IG insisted the officials to study the cases from all aspects and then transfer them to military courts considering merit and demerits of each case. The directives in this regard have already been conveyed to all DIGs of Sindh police range so that the fresh list of cases for military courts could be prepared,” added the statement.

By a majority of 11 to six, the SC had affixed the seal of approval to the setting up of nine special courts manned by military officers to try hardened militants. With the dismissal of petitions challenging he 18th and 21st Amendments, the April 16 stay granted by the apex court on the execution of six militants, as well as all subsequent executions, has also been lifted.

A source privy to details of the CPO meeting said the decision taken by the police authorities was likely to increase the number of cases to be recommended for trial in the military courts. “Earlier the Sindh police had prepared the list of more than 60 cases for military courts,” he said. “But the situation was put on hold when the setting up of military courts was challenged before the Supreme Court. During the five months of case hearing, a few new cases also emerged. The most brutal one was the Safoora Goth bus attack. So after the review, some new cases would be added to the previous list,” the source added.

However, he did not rule out the possibility of exclusion of any case from the previous list after re-examination of all the terrorism cases. He said the law-enforcement agency was expected to finalise the new list within a week. “And it may exclude a case or two after the re-examination. But there are healthy chances that a few new cases would be added for proceedings in the military courts,” said the source.

Published in Dawn, August 7th, 2015

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