Status of TTP ex-spokesman: PHC directs Ministry of Defence to submit progress report

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Tuesday directed the federal government through the Ministry of Defence to submit the progress report about the status of Ehsanullah Ehsan, a former spokesman for the banned Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) to know if he was being tried or was under investigation.

A two-member bench comprising Justice Qaiser Rashid Khan and Justice Syed Afsar Shah also maintained the restraining order, directing the federal government not to release the former spokesman of the TTP without its permission.

The bench was hearing a writ petition filed by Fazal Khan, whose son Sahibzada Umar Khan was martyred in the Army Public School carnage, against the possible clemency to the TTP spokesman and his trial through military court without further delay.

During the hearing, Deputy Attorney General (DAG), Musarratullah, submitted before the bench that the high court had no jurisdiction to hear the case. He argued that the Supreme Court had given decision in cases of military courts and the high court had limited jurisdiction in reviewing the appeal against the decision.

However, the court asked the DAG and a representative of the federal government through Ministry of Defence to submit the progress report on the status of Ehsanullah Ehsan and explain how long he would be in custody for investigation or is under trial in the military court. The bench fixed April 25 for the next hearing of the cases.

In the previous hearing, the court had expressed dissatisfaction over the brief comments filed on behalf of the Ministry of Defence and sought detailed comments to clearly explain the government’s position on the matter.

The court had directed the Ministry of Defence to explain in clear terms whether any clemency had been offered to Ehsanullah Ehsan and under what law the government was going to proceed against him.

The petitioner requested the court to order the speedy trial of Ehsanullah Ehsan by a military court. The petitioner argued that he should be informed about the outcome of the case.

The respondents in the petition are the federal government through the interior secretary, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government through the chief secretary, the Defence Ministry through its secretary, the Inter-Services Intelligence director general, the Chief of Army Staff, and the law and human rights ministry through its secretary.

Barrister Amirullah Khan Chamkani, representing the petitioner, contended that the Attorney General’s office had filed brief comments that the investigation and operations based on the revelations of Ehsanullah Ehsan are under process and therefore the petition should be dismissed.

He stated the court was not satisfied with these comments and had directed the deputy attorney general to submit more comments. However, he added that once again brief comments were filed on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

He said since the government had not categorically denied the assertions made by his client, it meant that those were correct.

The lawyer said the government had made public in April 2017 that Ehsanullah Ehsan had surrendered and since then they had been investigating him, but no charge had so far been brought against him.

He said that 147 students and staff members, including an eighth grade son of the petitioner, had lost their lives in the December 16, 2014 attack.

The petitioner noted that after almost three years one of the masterminds of the APS attack, Ehsanullah Ehsan alias Tariq, had surrendered or had been captured by the law-enforcement agencies and thix had given some hope to him that the perpetrators of the APS incident would be brought to justice.

He said to his utmost surprise and disappointment, TTP’s former spokesman far from being brought to justice was being portrayed as an “unaware, innocent and brainwashed man, who had inadvertently masterminded terrorist activities” in the country, particularly in KP.

The petitioner added that it was reported in the media that clemency was on the cards for the TTP spokesman for his ‘full and frank’ disclosure. He said the possible government move was not only highly deplorable but also illegal and unconstitutional.