Imaan Mazari, Hadi Chatha approach Supreme Court over ATC trial

Human rights lawyers Imaan Mazari and Hadi Ali Chatha on Monday approached the Supreme Court against an Islamabad High Court (IHC) decision on their request to halt trial proceedings in an anti-terrorism case, according to The Express Tribune and APP.

In the petition, filed through advocate Faisal Siddiqi according to Express News, the applicants argue that unless the trial is stayed immediately, their pending application before the high court will become ineffective. They say the trial court began proceedings in haste without giving them adequate time and recorded statements of prosecution witnesses in one day. Express News reported that two witnesses' statements were recorded without a chance to cross-examine them. They ask the Supreme Court to set aside the IHC's October 19 order and stop the trial court from proceeding.

The petition also maintains that removing security barriers does not amount to terrorism. It alleges the trial is meant to harass the accused and subject them to political victimisation, and that the aim is to keep them in custody.

According to The Express Tribune, the Islamabad anti-terrorism court (ATC) framed charges against the couple on October 7 in a case over the alleged removal of security barriers and disruption of a designated route during the visit of an international cricket team. The court then recorded statements from all seven prosecution witnesses, and the case has reached the cross-examination stage. The trial was moved to Adiala Jail amid disputes over the accused's production in court and defence lawyers' access to them.

Separately, the couple went to the IHC seeking suspension of the trial, alleging procedural violations in the framing of charges, including that they were not physically present when indicted and did not receive copies of documents. On October 19 the IHC said it would issue an order after hearing the respondents. It refused interim relief on petitions seeking removal of anti-terrorism provisions from the case, but issued notices to the relevant parties on the plea to suspend the trial.

Express News reported that an IHC bench of Justice Inaam Amin Minhas and Justice Shahrukh Arjumand also heard a plea against the jail trial and the appointment of state counsel. Lawyers for the couple said the jail trial was being challenged and that the accused should have been heard before it was decided. They said the summary began with the Islamabad police SP and was approved by the chief commissioner, while the authority lies with the federal government. The judge asked what the issue was and who held the authority.

The couple were rearrested on September 17, shortly after the Supreme Court granted them bail and suspended their sentences in a separate social-media posts case. Police sought 30-day physical remand, but ATC Judge Abul Hasnat Muhammad Zulqarnain refused and sent them on judicial remand, noting that no weapon was attributed to either accused although they were named in the FIR as members of an unlawful assembly.