The case concerned the constitutionality of military courts set up to try protestors accused of involvement in the May 9 riots that ensued from the arrest of former prime minister Imran Khan.

[4] The judgment was challenged by federal and provincial caretaker governments before a larger bench, in the first appeal of its kind under the newly passed Practice and Procedure Act, 2023.

[6][7] On 13 December 2023, the new bench suspended the earlier ruling by a 5–1 majority, stating that the trials of civilians would continue in military courts.

[9] Military courts commenced in independent Pakistan to try mostly army officers accused of treason in the Rawalpindi conspiracy case in 1951, followed by select military tribunals trying religious leaders in the aftermath of the Lahore riots of 1953 and the imposition of city-wide martial law (the sentences were nullified when martial law was lifted the same year).

The trial of civilians by court martial was formalised in 1967 during the military dictatorship of Ayub Khan, in the form of § 2(1)(d) and § 59(4) being incorporated in the Pakistan Army Act, 1952.

[12] Military tribunals were also instituted in Sindh by the government of Nawaz Sharif following the assassination of provincial governor Hakim Said in 1998, but they were struck down by the Supreme Court in Liaquat Hussain v. Federation of Pakistan, a decision authored by Chief Justice Ajmal Mian.

Military courts were again instituted by the Nawaz Sharif ministry in the aftermath of the 2014 Peshawar school massacre carried out by the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, with the aim of dispensing speedy justice to terrorists.

[13] In January 2017, at the end of the originally stipulated period, a further amendment was made to the constitution to allow the military courts to function for two more years.

[18] The Twenty-first amendment was challenged in May 2015 by senior lawyers Hamid Khan and Asma Jahangir in District Bar Association (Rawalpindi) v. Federation of Pakistan.

After Imran Khan's violent arrest by paramilitary Rangers on 9 May 2023 from within the premises of the Islamabad High Court, protests spread across the country.

[20] In some instances protestors targeted military installations, including the General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi and Corps Commander house at Lahore.

[28] "Lord Atkin, in one of his most well-known speeches (a famous dissent instantly recognizable), said that in England, even amid the clash of arms, the laws were not silent, that they spoke the same language in peace and in war.

[34] Related appeals were filed by caretaker governments of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Baluchistan as well as the defense ministry, under Lieutenant General (r) Anwar Ali Hyder.

[39] On 13 December 2023, the bench suspended the earlier ruling in a 5–1 majority decision, with J. Musarrat Hilali dissenting, stating that the trials of 103 civilians will continue in military courts.