The Punjab government has told the Lahore High Court that a civilian convicted of offences against state cannot claim the protection of fundamental rights, asking the court to dismiss a petition by Barrister Hassaan Khan Niazi against his handover to the army and later military trial linked to the May 9, 2023 violence in Lahore.
The provincial reply, filed on Monday after nearly a year through the home secretary and the inspector general of police, came from the deputy inspector general of police (legal). It framed the case as one in which loyalty to the state is every citizen’s first duty, citing a 2005 Lahore High Court judgment (PLD 2005 LAH 721).
What Punjab told the court
The report described Niazi, a nephew of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf founder Imran Khan, as a convicted prisoner whose release through a fresh round of litigation, other than an appeal, was not allowed. It said no judicial order was needed for his handover because he was neither in judicial custody nor on remand, and that he was an absconder, unlike 16 co-accused whose transfer from an anti-terrorism court was sought while they were in jail.
According to the report, the Sarwar Road station house officer neither handed over custody nor received a letter from the commanding officer; that step, it said, was taken by the investigation in-charge of the Sarwar Road police station, who is not a party to the petition. It also argued that Niazi had already filed an appeal under Section 133-B of the Pakistan Army Act, 1952 — the law that governs military justice — and that the same legal question cannot be pursued in two forums at once, so the petition was not maintainable.
The report further said the Supreme Court’s May 7, 2025 ruling on related appeals upheld military trials while giving the accused a right of appeal, not a right to file constitutional petitions. It accused Niazi of misreading that short order and of withholding facts about his appeal, earlier proceedings by his father Hafeezullah Khan Niazi, and an anti-terrorism court order of May 25, 2023. It also noted he had not annexed the military court’s order — an omission the high court had already upheld as an objection in two other petitions — and prayed for dismissal as without merit.
Defence ministry’s parallel reply
Separately, the defence ministry told the court that Niazi went to Jinnah House on May 9, 2023, recorded videos and made sarcastic remarks about the Lahore Corps commander’s uniform. An assistant judge advocate general — a military legal officer — at Headquarters 4 Corps, through an additional attorney general, said the episode harmed Pakistan’s image and was prejudicial to the safety and interest of the state.
Police records cited in the provincial report place him as a proclaimed offender in FIR No. 96/2023, registered on May 10, 2023 at Sarwar Road police station in Lahore Cantonment over an attack on Jinnah House, then also the corps commander’s residence. He was arrested in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on August 16, 2023. The next day, the commanding officer of the 54 Electrical and Mechanical Engineers Battalion, Lahore, sought custody, saying the alleged acts fell under the Official Secrets Act, 1923 — which covers sensitive security information — and the Army Act, and were triable by court-martial. Police handed him over under Section 76 of the Army Act read with Section 549(3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
The ministry said he was held at Kot Lakhpat Jail, convicted by a field general court martial and sentenced to 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment under Section 3 of the Official Secrets Act read with Section 59 of the Army Act, with sentence admission to Lahore’s Central Jail on December 26, 2024 after a trial that ended on January 5, 2024. It argued Articles 199(3) and 8(3) of the Constitution bar high-court interference in armed-forces proceedings, that he was tried with counsel of his choice, made a judicial confession he did not retract, waited nearly two years before approaching the court, and already has an Army Act appeal pending. It denied unequal treatment under Article 25, saying ordinary protesters went to anti-terrorism courts while his case involved a prohibited military installation, and asked for dismissal as premature, not maintainable and without merit. It added that weekly phone calls and family meetings were arranged after the handover.
Timeline: what has happened so far
- May 9, 2023: Alleged incident at Jinnah House in Lahore, including videos and remarks about the corps commander’s uniform, according to the defence ministry.
- May 10, 2023: FIR No. 96/2023 registered at Sarwar Road police station, Lahore Cantonment.
- August 16–17, 2023: Niazi arrested in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa; military custody sought and handover completed the next day.
- January 5, 2024 / December 2024: Field general court martial trial ends; 10-year sentence; admission to Central Jail on December 26, 2024.
- May 7, 2025: Supreme Court short order upholds military trials and an appeal right, not constitutional petitions, as cited in the replies.
- Monday: Punjab government’s report to the LHC seeks dismissal of his fundamental-rights petition.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Punjab sarkar ne Lahore High Court ko kaha ke jo civilian state ke khilaf jurm mein convict ho chuka ho, woh fundamental rights ka daawa nahi kar sakta. Yeh baat Hassaan Niazi ki petition ke jawab mein aayi, jinhein May 9 ke case mein fauji adalat se das saal ki saza hui. Sarkar ka kehna hai ke unki appeal pehle se army ke appeal system mein chal rahi hai, is liye yeh petition qanooni tor par nahi chal sakti. Aam qari ke liye yeh mamla yeh batata hai ke state offences ki saza paane ke baad constitutional petition ka rasta sarkar ke mutabiq bohat mahdood hai.
