The Supreme Court has disposed of appeals against the trial of Imaan Mazari in a case about removing barriers, ruling that the appeals have become ineffective. A three-member bench led by Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar said the Islamabad High Court will decide whether the petitions can be heard. For readers following the Imaan Mazari case update, the key change is that the next decision on the petitions now rests with the high court rather than the Supreme Court.
What the court said
The bench said the matter is pending before the Islamabad High Court, and that the case had therefore become ineffective in the Supreme Court. In legal terms, admissibility means whether a petition is allowed to be heard at all, and the court left that question to the high court in its order. Justice Mazhar remarked that the trial had already taken place, so the apex court had nothing further to decide on the appeals.
He also said that deciding when a case is listed for hearing is not the role of the bench, and that the court could not direct either way on that point.
The defence's arguments
Lawyer Faisal Siddiqui told the bench that the anti-terrorism court, which hears terrorism cases, completed the full trial in jail within 22 days. He said his side first approached the Islamabad High Court against the trial court's framing of charges, the formal step of setting out the allegations, and against what he described as failures to meet legal requirements in the trial. According to his account, the high court did not stop the trial, and the Supreme Court did not fix the case in time.
Siddiqui asked the court to leave people at least the right that their cases can be decided. These were the lawyer's submissions, while the bench's ruling turned on the point that the trial had already taken place.
What happens next
The Islamabad High Court will now decide whether the petitions against the trial can be heard. The Supreme Court has closed the appeals, so the next step in this matter lies with that court. Readers who want the latest on this case should follow orders from the Islamabad High Court, since the next decision on admissibility will come from there.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Supreme Court ne Imaan Mazari ke trial ke khilaf apeelon ko ghair muassir qarar de kar nipta diya hai. Court ke mutabiq yeh maamla Islamabad High Court mein zer-e-altawa hai, aur wahi tay karegi ke darkhastein sunne ke qabil hain ya nahi. Aam shehri ke liye iska matlab yeh hai ke ab is maamle ka agla faisla Supreme Court ke bajaye high court mein hoga. Wakeel ne kaha ke logon ko kam az kam yeh haq milna chahiye ke unke kaison ka faisla ho sake.
