Post by Anja Nieser on Sept 26, 2006 17:46:34 GMT -5
Apex court upholds death sentence
The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed all the 12 appeals in 2 cases of
assassination attempts on President Pervez Musharraf and upheld the death
penalty awarded to the convicts by a military court.
The appellants had challenged their conviction by military court but their
petitions were dismissed by the LHC. The present appeals were directed
against the order of the LHC.
For reasons to be recorded later, the impugned order of the Lahore High
Court is maintained and, consequently, the appeals are dismissed, said a
bench comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Abdul
Hameed Dogar and Justice Saiyed Saeed Ashhad in its short order.
On the last hearing, the apex court had observed that before touching the
merit of the appeals, it would first decide a law point if it had
appellate jurisdiction over the decisions of military courts.
In its short order on Monday, the bench upheld the order passed by the
Lahore High Court, holding that under Article 199 of the Constitution,
civil courts had no jurisdiction to issue writ against orders passed by
military courts.
12 convicts, who filed 5 appeals in the apex court, had been arrested for
their involvement in 2 abortive assassination attempts on the president in
December 2003.
Earlier, counsel for the appellants argued that they should have been
tried under Section 131 of the Pakistan Penal Code.
(source: Pakistan Dawn)
The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed all the 12 appeals in 2 cases of
assassination attempts on President Pervez Musharraf and upheld the death
penalty awarded to the convicts by a military court.
The appellants had challenged their conviction by military court but their
petitions were dismissed by the LHC. The present appeals were directed
against the order of the LHC.
For reasons to be recorded later, the impugned order of the Lahore High
Court is maintained and, consequently, the appeals are dismissed, said a
bench comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Abdul
Hameed Dogar and Justice Saiyed Saeed Ashhad in its short order.
On the last hearing, the apex court had observed that before touching the
merit of the appeals, it would first decide a law point if it had
appellate jurisdiction over the decisions of military courts.
In its short order on Monday, the bench upheld the order passed by the
Lahore High Court, holding that under Article 199 of the Constitution,
civil courts had no jurisdiction to issue writ against orders passed by
military courts.
12 convicts, who filed 5 appeals in the apex court, had been arrested for
their involvement in 2 abortive assassination attempts on the president in
December 2003.
Earlier, counsel for the appellants argued that they should have been
tried under Section 131 of the Pakistan Penal Code.
(source: Pakistan Dawn)