Pak Supreme Court suspends lower court's order to release 196 terrorists

A three-member bench of the Supreme Court headed by Justice Mushir Alam heard the petition against the lower court's verdict. The court after hearing the official point of view suspended the acquittal order of the high court and adjourned the hearing till July 24.

Pakistan's Supreme Court on Tuesday suspended a lower court's order to set free nearly 200 terrorists convicted by the military courts. A two-member bench of the Peshawar High Court on June 1 acquitted 196 militants and ordered the authorities to release them if they were not involved in any other case.

Their acquittal was challenged in the apex court. A three-member bench of the Supreme Court headed by Justice Mushir Alam heard the petition against the lower court's verdict.

The court after hearing the official point of view suspended the acquittal order of the high court and adjourned the hearing till July 24. The top court ordered authorities to present all details of the cases against the convicts in the next hearing. Military courts were set up for the speedy trial of terrorists after the Peshawar School attack in December 2014 in which at least 150 people, mostly students, were killed. All 196 terrorists were convicted by those courts but the conviction was challenged in the Peshawar High Court.

The high court on July 11 issued a 426-page detailed judgment which highlighted flaws in the conviction and said that the convicted persons were neither allowed to meet their relatives nor given a chance to defend themselves. It also pointed out that there were no direct first information reports (FIRs) and no investigations carried out to prove the allegations.