PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court has granted bail to two former ‘missing’ persons, who were convicted by the administration of Khyber tribal district for waging war against the state by joining a banned militant outfit.

In one of the two cases, a bench consisting of Chief Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth and Justice Mohammad Ayub Khan granted bail to Amjad Khan of Bara tehsil in Khyber district on the condition of furnishing two surety bonds of Rs500,000 each.

The convict has moved the court challenging his conviction by an assistant political agent under the erstwhile Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR) in 2018. He sought bail as interim relief until the conclusion of hearing.

Also, another high court bench consisting of Justice Mussarat Hilali and Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim granted bail to Akhtar Nawaz of Bara asking him to furnish two surety bonds of Rs500,000 each.

The convict has challenged his conviction by an APA Bara through a petition.

Shabbir Hussain Gigyani, lawyer for the petitioners in both cases, said his clients were illegally detained for many years before they were handed over the administration by security forces.

He said the APA had conducted the ‘so-called’ trial under Section 11 of the FCR and sentenced Amjad Khan to 14 years imprisonment under sections 121 and 122 of the Pakistan Penal Code, which dealt with the waging of war against the state.

The lawyer said the APA had pronounced the order on Oct 13, 2018, and by that time, the FCR was repealed through the Fata Interim Governance Regulation (FIGR) and therefore, the APA had no authority to convict a person under the abolished law.

He said the APA had acknowledged in its order that the petitioner was taken into custody by security forces in 2011 over his alleged connection with the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan and was handed over to the administration of Khyber tribal district in 2017.

The lawyer said his client didn’t undergo a fair trial and had remained in illegal detention for many years.

He said after the merger of Fata with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa through the Constitution (Twenty Fifth Amendment) Act, 2018, there was a legal vacuum in tribal districts as no appellate forum was available there for the petitioner to get relief and therefore, he had moved the high court.

The lawyer said his other client, Akhtar Nawaz, was taken into custody by security forces in 2014 on the charge of links with the TTP and waging of war against the state.

He said the petitioner had remained missing before he was handed over to the administration in 2017.

The lawyer said a ‘so-called’ council of elders was constituted under Section 11 of the FCR and that his client was convicted by the APA.

He added that the petitioner was sentenced to 14 years imprisonment though there existed no evidence of his involvement in the said offence.

The lawyer wondered how a person could illegally detained for many years before being tried on ‘vague and ambiguous’ charges.

Published in Dawn, February 15th, 2019