| Said Zaman Khan v. Federation of Pakistan | |
| Court: | Supreme Court of Pakistan |
| Full Name: | Said Zaman Khan v. Federation of Pakistan through Secretary Ministry of Defence, Government of Pakistan Superintendent HSP, Sahiwal |
| Citations: | 2017 SCMR 1249; Civil Petition No. 842 of 2016 |
| Judges: | Chief Justice Anwar Zaheer JamaliJustices Amir Hani Muslim Sh. Azmat Saeed Manzoor Ahmad Malik Faisal Arab |
| Number Of Judges: | 5 |
| Decision By: | Sh. Azmat Saeed |
| Concurring: | All |
Said Zaman Khan v. Federation of Pakistan is a landmark decision 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, as well as suspects involved in the Peshawar school massacre in 2014, the Bannu jailbreak in 2012, and the Rawalpindi Parade Lane bombing in 2009.
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 and authorizing military courts to try civilians charged with terrorism, through the Twenty-first Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan.[1] 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 General Raheel Sharif throughout 2015 and 2016.[2]
The terror suspects included members of militant groups Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan and al-Qaeda, and were convicted for involvement in:
A five-judge bench consisting of Chief Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali, Amir Hani Muslim, Sh. Azmat Saeed, Manzoor Ahmad Malik, 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.