Army Act was violated during Imran Khan’s tenure: Report

Islamabad [Pakistan], July 5 (ANI): Lawyer Lt Col (R) Inamur Rahim has criticised Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan over military trials of 29 civilians during his tenure, claiming that Army Act was violated during PTI’s regime, ARY News reported.

When the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party was in power under former prime minister Imran Khan, 29 civilians were tried, found guilty, and sentenced in military courts. Inamur Rahim has petitioned the Supreme Court (SC) to overturn those decisions.
Speaking on the ARY News programme “Khabbar,” the attorney urged the PTI leader to go before the Supreme Court and defend the military trials of civilians that took place under his leadership, as per ARY News.

Rahim described the trials in detail, stating that 25 of the civilian defendants were denied the right to an attorney and that 3 of the 29 civilian defendants received death sentences from the military courts. “Even their families were not informed about the military trial,” he alleged.

He also claimed that not a single first information report (FIR) was lodged against the 29 civilians during the PTI regime.

The lawyer pointed out that the cases of suspects, arrested in the past few days, were sent to anti-terrorism court (ATC). He added, “Later, the ATC transferred the cases to military courts under Army Act,” according to ARY News.

Last year, Rahim said, Justice Athar Minallah inquired about the missing persons including Mudassar Narru. “The judge directed the then cabinet to table the order before them prime minister Imran Khan,” he added.

However, he regretted, the PTI government failed to provide response to Minallah’s orders. “Army act was violated during the PTI chief’s tenure,” he said, adding that Article 10 and 10A were also violated during the PTI regime.

He also said that he had filed the constitutional petition in the Supreme Court (SC) for 29 civilians – who according to him were innocent and not presented before civilian court.

“The PTI chief has not obeyed any court order during his tenure”, he said, adding that no action was taken during that time because Faiz Hameed and Qamar Bajwa were on the same page, ARY News reported.