Imaan Mazari Case: High Court to Decide Admissibility of Appeals Against Trial, Supreme Court Rules

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has ruled that the Islamabad High Court will determine whether appeals challenging the trial proceedings in the case against human rights lawyer Imaan Mazari are maintainable.

A three-member bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, heard appeals against the trial proceedings in the case concerning the removal of barricades involving Imaan Mazari. The apex court disposed of the matter after declaring it infructuous.

In its written order, the Supreme Court observed that the case was already pending before the Islamabad High Court and had become infructuous before the apex court. It said the High Court would decide whether the petitions were maintainable.

During the hearing, lawyer Faisal Siddiqui argued that the Anti-Terrorism Court had completed the entire trial inside jail within just 22 days.

Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar observed that the trial had already been concluded and, therefore, the matter had become infructuous.

Faisal Siddiqui told the court that they had been forced to approach the Supreme Court merely to get their case scheduled for hearing before the High Court. He said the court should at least hear their case, even if they were sentenced to death.

He explained that they had approached the High Court against the trial court’s decision to frame charges and alleged failure to fulfil legal requirements during the trial. However, the High Court had not suspended the trial proceedings, prompting them to approach the Supreme Court.

He further complained that the Supreme Court had also failed to schedule the case in time.

Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar remarked that deciding which cases should or should not be fixed for hearing was not the Supreme Court’s responsibility, adding that the court could neither direct that a particular case be scheduled nor instruct that it should not be fixed.

In response, Faisal Siddiqui said, “At least leave people with the basic right to have their cases decided.”