Former chief justice Jawad S. Khawaja has filed a review petition in the Supreme Court challenging its recent verdict that allowed the trial of civilians in military courts. The petition challenged the 7-member constitutional bench’s decision from May 7, 2025, which overturned an earlier ruling by a five-member bench that had declared Sections 2(1)(d) and 59(4) of the Army Act unconstitutional and ruled that suspects from the May 9 and 10 riots could not be tried in military courts. 

Khawaja, in his petition, argued that the five-member bench’s decision, authored by Justice Munib Akhtar and Justice Ayesha Malik, was constitutionally sound and should be reinstated. He named the federal and all four provincial governments as respondents. 

He claimed that the constitutional bench’s reliance on earlier cases such as FB Ali, District Bar Association, and Shaheeda Zahid Abbasi was misplaced. He further asserted that the bench’s contradictory reasoning, acknowledging military courts lack independence while directing parliament to legislate for appeal rights, undermined the right to a fair trial.

Khawaja emphasised that courts have a fundamental duty to strike down laws that violate constitutional rights and cannot delegate this responsibility to Parliament. He noted that two of the seven judges on the constitutional bench had dissented, aligning with the original view that civilians cannot be subjected to military trials. 

The petition warned that allowing such trials create the perception that the Supreme Court has accepted a subservient role to the executive, stating: “If military trials are truly independent and constitutional, then the entire civilian judicial system might as well be handed over to the executive.” 

Khawaja requested that the May 7 ruling be set aside and the five-member bench’s decision reinstated.  It is noteworthy that the Supreme Court’s 7-member bench had accepted the government’s intra-court appeals by a 5-2 majority, thereby restoring the original provisions of the Army Act and allowing military trials of civilians involved in the May 9, 2023 unrest. 

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)