PESHAWAR, July 10: The counsel of the six accused sentenced to death by an Anti-Terrorism Court submitted before the Peshawar High Court on Wednesday that the ATC had conducted trial of the accused without having jurisdiction.

The counsel, Zaffar Abbas Zaidi, stated before a division bench of the PHC, comprising Justice Nasirul Mulk and Justice Tallat Qayyum Qureshi that the case was pending before the district and sessions judge, Nowshera, and was transferred by that court to the ATC without issuance of a declaration by the government.

The bench was hearing appeals of the six appellants — Mir Zaman, Ahsanullah, Jan Mohammad, Nadeem, Jamshed and Sameen — convicted by the ATC on June 24 in the famous Brinks security agency highway robbery case. The court observed that the points raised by the counsel needed consideration, and directed state prosecutor Akhter Naveed to prepare a case on those points on next hearing.

Besides Mr Zaidi, advocates Khwaja Mohammad Gara, Sher Afgan Khattak, Attaullah Khan, Amjid Zia and Gohar Rehman Khattak appeared for the appellants.

Mr Zaidi argued that under the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1997 it was mandatory that a declaration was issued by the government for transferring a case to the ATC.

He said that initially the trial of the case was conducted in Nowshera by the district and sessions judge in his capacity as a special judge under the Suppression of Terrorists Activities Act, 1975, which stood repealed with the enactment of the ATA, 1997.

He contended that under section 39B(2b) of the ATA, the cases pending under the STAA, 1975, before the enactment of the ATA had to be proceeded under the same law.

Mr Zaidi added that even if it was presumed that the assuming jurisdiction by the ATA was correct, the court had to re-frame the charges against the appellants under the ATA instead of proceeding with the case under the previous charge sheet.