ISLAMABAD - The Supreme Court Thursday issued notice to the Attorney General for Pakistan on the petition of two former army men, who were court-martialled for 1995 coup attempt.
A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali heard review petitions of Col (Retd) Muhammad Azad Minhas and Col (Retd) Inayatullah Khan.
The review petition was filed by Col Azad Minhas and Col (Retd) Inayatullah Khan against their court martial by the Pakistan Army. Maj Gen (Retd) Abbasi, two colonels and 38 other military officers were arrested on Sept 26, 1995 on charges of plotting to assassinate corps commanders during a meeting to be held on Sept 30 at the GHQ.
They had also allegedly plotted to proclaim caliphate with Abbasi as Amirul Momeneen (Leader of the Faithful) after assassinating the then prime minister Benazir Bhutto and then army chief Gen Abdul Waheed Kakkar, as well as senior cabinet ministers and senior military officers.
The Supreme Court had rejected Abbasi’s appeal filed in 1997 against the seven-year jail term awarded to him by the Field General Court Marshal (FGCM). The court had observed that the matter was outside the purview of civilian courts.
The appellants, appearing in-person told they had no role in 1995 coup, adding their sentence by court-martial was against the law. They told that the plots allotted to them, pensions and privileges were taken back. They said in America and India there is law to file appeal before the court of law against the court-martial, but in Pakistan no such provision is available in the Army Act 1952.
Justice Hani Muslim questioned why the plots of the appellants were canceled. The chief justice said why all people want that the Supreme Court decide their cases.
The CJP after hearing them issued notice to the Attorney General to assist the court in this regard on next and adjourned the case for one month.

ARMY PERSONNEL CONFERRED AWARDS

Army Chief General Raheel Sharif yesterday conferred military awards to Army personnel for acts of gallantry in the ongoing Operation Zarb-e-Azb at an investiture ceremony in Rawalpindi.
A large number of military officials and relatives of Shuhada and Ghazis attended the ceremony.
As many as 35 officers and soldiers were awarded Tamgha-E-Bisalat, 35 officers Sitara-i-Imtiaz (Military), and 5 officers and soldiers were awarded United Nations (UN) Medal.