Additionally, under section 34 of the ATA, the government holds the authority to add even more offences punishable under the law as “scheduled offences” to the Third Schedule through a simple notification. In 2004, the following three offences were added to the Third Schedule as exclusively to be tried by the ATC regardless of overlapping jurisdiction with other laws including the Pakistan Penal Code: (i) Abduction or kidnapping for ransom; (ii) Use of fire-arms or explosives by any device, including bomb blast in a mosque, imam-bargah, church, temple or any other place of worship, whether or not any hurt or damage is caused thereby; and (iii) Firing or use of explosives by any device, including bomb blast in the Court premises. All offences included in the Third Schedule are interpreted as exclusively triable by the ATCs “even if an offence is committed for absolutely private motives and having no nexus with terrorism.” All offences included in the Third Schedule are interpreted as exclusively triable by the ATCs “even if an offence is committed for absolutely private motives and having no nexus with terrorism.”52 If someone comes into conflict with the ata he is harassed perpetually. Accused are booked under the law primarily for the satisfaction of the aggrieved party and the people in the locality, as the case will be concluded in a speedy manner. Otherwise, the same remedies are available under the ordinary criminal law. IMRAN ASMAT CHAUDHRY LAWYER WITH OVER 17 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE REPRESENTING ATC CLIENTS. This was evidenced in the case of Mushtaq Ahmed, who was detained by police in 2010 for the murder of three police officers. In 2002, Mushtaq Ahmed’s nephew was involved in a fight with a group of men who had abducted his 11-year-old sister. As an outcome of the fight, one of the abductors was murdered. Thereafter, the family of the deceased named Mushtaq and a number of his male relatives as suspects in the FIR. He has since then been acquitted of the charge. One night, policemen tried to illegally enter his house in order to take him into their custody without any warrant. Once the police broke into the house, a gun-fight ensued. The neighbors assumed that a robbery was taking place and thus began firing at the armed police men. This resulted in the deaths of 3 policemen. The only evidence tying Mushtaq to the crime is the ocular evidence given by the accompanying policemen themselves and a gun which was later recovered from the house. No forensic testing was done to 52 National Public Safety Commission. “Manual on Anti-Terrorism Act,1997”. National Police Bureau Islamabad. October 2008. Available at https://www.unodc.org/tldb/pdf/Pakistan_Anti-terrorism_Manual_2008.pdf TRIAL AND TERROR 15