A five-member bench of the Supreme Court will take up petitions against the trials of civilians in military courts on October 23. Meanwhile, a three-member bench will also take up petitions asking for elections within 90 days on the same date.

According to cause lists issued on Friday, the bench hearing the military court case will be led by Justice Ijaz ul Ahsan and will include Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Ayesha Malik, Justice Yahya Afridi and Justice Mazahar Naqvi.

On the other hand, Justice Qazi Faez Isa will lead a bench including Justice Aminuddin Khan and Justice Athar Minallah that will hear petitions asking for elections to be held within 90 days.

The case was fixed a day after Justice Qazi Faez Isa hinted that the military court case and the general election could be fixed ‘soon’.

The military courts case was last heard on August 3 by a bench led by then Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial. The attorney general had assured the court that no civilians would be tried without letting the SC know beforehand.

All five judges in the new bench were part of the bench with Justice Bandial as well.

The bench led by Justice Bandial was dissolved and reconstituted twice after judges recused themselves from hearing the case.

The petitions have asked the court to order that civilians cannot be tried by military court since fair trial is not guaranteed. The issue began when people accused of involvement in the May 9 riots were handed over to military courts for attacking state institutions.