''Said Zaman Khan v. Federation of Pakistan'' is a

landmark decision Landmark court decisions, in present-day common law legal systems, establish precedents that determine a significant new legal principle or concept, or otherwise substantially affect the interpretation of existing law. "Leading case" is commonly u ...

in which the Supreme Court of Pakistan upheld death sentences against sixteen terrorists convicted by military courts in 2016. The accused included members of militant groups Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan and

al-Qaeda Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...

, as well as suspects involved in the Peshawar school massacre in 2014, the

Bannu Bannu ( ps, بنو, translit=banū ; ur, , translit=bannū̃, ) is a city located on the Kurram River in southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It is the capital of Bannu Division. Bannu's residents are primarily members of the Banuchi tribe ...

jailbreak in 2012, and the Rawalpindi Parade Lane bombing in 2009. The decision marked the first time the Court ruled on the legality of

military trial A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of memb ...

s, legalized for civilian terror suspects after the school massacre.

Background

In the aftermath of the Peshawar school massacre on 16 December 2014, the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif responded by lifting its moratorium on the

death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

and authorizing military courts to try civilians charged with terrorism, through the Twenty-first Amendment to the

Constitution of Pakistan The Constitution of Pakistan ( ur, ), also known as the 1973 Constitution, is the supreme law of Pakistan. Drafted by the government of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, with additional assistance from the country's Pakistani political parties, opposition ...

. Persons accused of terrorism were tried by field general court martial (FGCM). In the event of conviction, their death warrants were signed by

Chief of Army Staff Chief of Army Staff or Chief of the Army Staff which is generally abbreviated as COAS is a title commonly used for the appointment held by the most senior staff officer or the chief commander in several nations' armies. * Chief of Army (Australia ...

General Raheel Sharif throughout 2015 and 2016.

Involvement in acts of terrorism

The terror suspects included members of militant groups Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan and

, and were convicted for involvement in: *Peshawar school massacre, 16 December 2014 *Bannu jailbreak, 25 April 2012 * Rawalpindi Parade Lane bombing, 4 December 2009 *

Naushera Nowshera (with alternative spellings Nowshehra and Naushera) may refer to: Places India * Nowshera, Jammu and Kashmir, a town and tehsil in Rajauri district in the Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir * Nowshera, Srinagar, a notified area in Srin ...

mosque attack, 12 June 2009 *Attacks on law enforcement agencies

Before the Supreme Court of Pakistan

Relatives of the convicts filed petitions before the Supreme Court of Pakistan, alleging mala fide. They were represented by human rights lawyer Asma Jahangir and senior lawyer

Ahmad Raza Khan Kasuri Ahmed Raza Khan Kasuri Kheshgi (born 1940) is a Pakistani politician and lawyer. He is the son of Muhammad Ahmed Khan Kasuri (1903-1974) who was assassinated in a car ambush in 1974. Early life and career Ahmed Raza Khan Kasuri was born into ...

. The prosecution team was led by Attorney-General for Pakistan Ashtar Ausaf Ali.

Opinion

A five-judge bench consisting of Chief Justice

Anwar Zaheer Jamali Anwar Zaheer Jamali ( ur, born 31 December 1951) is a Pakistani jurist who served as the 24th Chief Justice of Pakistan. He remained in the Supreme Court from 3 August 2009 to 30 December 2016. He has also served as the Acting Chief Election ...

, Amir Hani Muslim, Sh. Azmat Saeed,

Manzoor Ahmad Malik Manzoor Ahmad Malik was a retired Pakistani judge. He became the Lahore High Court judge in 2009 and was elevated to the Supreme Court in 2015. Malik had reported to hear and rule around 50,000 cases during his career and retired in 2021. He was kn ...

, and Faizal Arab upheld the death sentences, observing that the petitioners could not prove that the trials by the FGCM were mala fide with a collateral purpose.

References

{{Reflist Supreme Court of Pakistan cases 2014 Peshawar school massacre