PTI leader Hassaan Khan Niazi, party founder Imran Khan’s nephew, on Wednesday moved the Lahore High Court (LHC) against his military custody, a court martial carried out against him and the full operation of the military court.

Niazi was handed over to the military for trial in 2023 over his alleged involvement in the May 9 riots at Lahore’s Jinnah House. He was sentenced to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment last December.

Niazi filed a petition with the LHC today through his lawyer, Faisal Siddiqui, contending that after being arrested in the May 9 case, he was not presented in a civilian court.

“The transfer of the petitioner’s custody directly to the military authorities without any judicial oversight is patently and wholly without jurisdiction,” the petition, available with Dawn.com, argued.

“No application under Section 549(3) (delivery to military authorities of persons liable to be tried by court-martial) [of the] CrPC (Criminal Code of Procedure), 1898, was filed before any court, including the ATC (Anti-Terrorism Court) Lahore … for [the] delivery of custody of the petitioner for trial by court-martial.”

The petition contended that Niazi had not been produced in a civilian court and was illegally handed into the military custody of the 54th Electrical and Mechanical Engineers Battalion by Sarwar Road police station “on a mere letter by a military functionary under the [Federation of Pakistan] without any judicial oversight or judicial process whatsoever”.

“Neither Section 549(3) of the CrPC, 1898, nor Sections 94 (order in case of concurrent jurisdiction of court martial and criminal court) and 59(4) (civil offences) of the Pakistan Army Act, 1952, nor any other provision of the Army Act or any other law empowers the transfer of custody of the petitioner directly from police custody to the military authorities for trial by court-martial without a transfer order by the Civilian Criminal Court,” the petition argued.

The petition added that Niazi was “singled out” of the hundreds of people nominated in the 2023 first information report (FIR) and thousands of people nominated in May 9 cases.

Niazi requested that the court declare the “transfer of the custody of the petitioner from [Sarwar Road police station) to the Commanding Officer 54 Electrical and Mechanical Engineers Battalion … without any judicial proceedings or judicial order, is without jurisdiction, without lawful authority and of no legal effect”.

A similar request was made to declare that the letter demanding Niazi’s transfer be declared without jurisdiction, along with “all subsequent judgments, orders, proceedings or actions, including court-martial proceedings, based on the transfer of the custody of the petitioner … without any judicial proceedings or judicial order”.

The petition also urged the court to “direct the respondents to either release the petitioner or produce him before the [Anti-Terrorism Court, Lahore], in relation to a criminal case arising out of FIR No 96 of 2023 dated [May 10], for further proceedings in accordance with law”.