A lengthy judgment in Peshawar

It has been known for nearly a month that the Peshawar High Court had overturned the convictions of nearly 200 civilians who were tried by Field General Court Martial. We now learn that the two-judge bench's decision was 426 pages long and seems to have been chiefly concerned with the fact that the accuseds were effectively denied the right to obtain counsel of their own choice. Unfortunately, the judgment is not yet on the court's website yet, so all we have to go on is this account in Dawn. Excerpt:

The court observed that during custody by the army authorities, the petitioner/convict was kept out of touch with the world outside and his family, parents or counsel were not allowed any access till the sentence awarded.

It added that the relevant rules in the Pakistan Army Act Rules dealing with provision of allowing counsel for defense of under trial accused before a court martial, were not complied with.

The bench observed that it was the duty of court of law to look into the matter especially on the touchstone of fundamental rights and that as prosecution, investigation, judge and jury were all in one uniform.

“The confessional statements so recorded are at very belated stage when the accused-convict was in clutches of the Internment Centres authority for months to years without any access to other individual/ civilian.

The so-called legal assistance provided by the uniform authorities is only at the stage of court proceedings and that too of a professional with no experience/ way of communication i.e total difference of language,” it observed.

Interestingly, the court referred to the representations about judicial review that Pakistan made to the International Court of Justice in the Kulbhushan Yadhav case. There the ICJ directed Pakistan to afford the accused Indian national a right to meaningful judicial review. The government has lately claimed that he has not exercised that right.