PESHAWAR, May 7: The Peshawar High Court has put the deputy attorney-general (DAG) on notice in a writ petition challenging a circular of the Pakistan Army which authorized court martial of army’s civilian employees. A two-member bench comprising Justice Ijaz Afzal and Justice Fazalur Rehman Khan fixed May 12 for next hearing. It observed that as vires of the circular had been challenged it was necessary to hear the deputy attorney-general.

The petition has been filed by Abdur Rasheed and seven other employees of Peshawar military farms who have challenged their proposed court martial in a case of discrepancies found in the supply of milk from the farms.

Barrister Adnan Saboor Rohaila appeared for the petitioners and contended that under the Army Act, 1952, the petitioners did not fall in the category of those civilian employees who could be court-martialled. He said the Army Act could not be applied to them.

Mr Rohaila said the impugned circular was issued in 1999 through which the categories of civilians were extended and all the civilian employees were included in it. He contended that the circular was in conflict with the Army Act.

Referring to section 2(1) (c) of the Army Act, he said only four categories of civilian employees were mentioned in the Act and the petitioners did not fall in those categories.