As the government tightens the noose around the perpetrators of the May 9 mayhem, an anti-terrorism court on Thursday permitted the surrender of 16 individuals who were involved in the looting and vandalism of Jinnah House to the commanding officer so they may be punished under army regulations.
Imran Khan, the chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, was arrested, and this infuriated party members, who on May 9 looted government and military facilities.
The administration said that the demonstrators will be tried under army law in order to stop the violence. In a nationwide sweep, several PTI employees and leaders were detained.
In the judgement that was published today, ATC Judge Abher Gul Khan accepted the army officer’s request for the custody of the vandals who are currently being held in Lahore.
They were mentioned in two different lawsuits brought up in relation to the assault on Corps Commander House, also referred to as Jinnah House.
Amar Zohaib, Ali Iftikhar, Ali Raza, Muhammad Arsalan, Muhammad Umair, Muhammad Raheem, Zia-ur-Rehman, Waqas Ali, Raees Ahmad, Faisal Irshad, Muhammad Bilal Hussain, Faheem Haider, Arzam Junaid, former PTI MPA Mian Muhammad Akram Usman, Muhammad Hashir Khan, and Hassan Shakir are among the defendants.
“While accepting the request of the Commanding Officer pursuant to Section 549(3) of the Criminal Procedure Code, read with Rule 7(f) of the Criminal Procedure (Military Offenders) Rules 1970, Superintendent, Camp Jail, Lahore is directed to hand over the documents requested by Irfan Athar, Commanding Officer/Military Officer, as duly forwarded by the prosecution.”
They were found guilty of violating Sections 3, 7, and 9 of the Official Secrets Act of 1923 in conjunction with Sections 2(1)(d) and 59(4) of the Pakistan Army Act of 1952. The Military Court was the only venue available for their trial, and the Leamed DPG did not object and forwarded the request for the necessary orders.
