Military trials: Can all civilians be treated like APS attackers, asks SC judge

ISLAMABAD: Supreme Court Justice Musarrat Hilali on Wednesday remarked that military trials were designed for culprits in cases like the Army Public School (APS) tragedy and questioned whether the same approach could be applied to all civilians. The concern was raised during a hearing on intra-court appeals against the military trial of civilians, under Supreme Court’s constitutional bench, headed by Justice Amin-Ud-Din Khan. The lawyer representing Ministry of Defence, Khawaja Haris, who had been directed to continue his arguments from where he left in yesterday’s hearing, read out the apex court’s verdict that had declared the military trial of civilians null and void. Haris argued that the precedent had already been established in previous cases that civilians could also be tried in military courts.