Days after former dictator General (r) Pervez Musharraf petitioned the Lahore High Court (LHC) to challenge the reservation of a special court verdict in the high treason case against him, the Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan-led government has also sought postponement of the same.
According to media reports, the Interior Ministry on Monday also challenged the forthcoming November 28 verdict in a high court and said that Musharraf’s co-accused were not made part of the trial.
In its petition, the ministry requested that the verdict in the high treason case be stopped until a new prosecution team was formed as the government had last month sacked the entire prosecution team formed by the previous Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government.
On October 23, the Interior Ministry had denotified the prosecution and constitutional teams, as well as the research assistant working on the high treason case against Musharraf. The notification said that the step was taken under Section 4-A of the Central Law Officers Ordinance, 1970, which deals with appointments made by the president. It says that the services of the teams have been “disengaged”.
“The prosecution team was denotified on October 23, but it pursued the case a day later on October 24 and submitted written arguments without any authority to do so,” the Interior Ministry, led by Brig (r) Ijaz Shah of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), reportedly said.
Hearing Musharraf’s separate petition challenging the forthcoming verdict, the LHC, earlier in the day, directed the counsel of the former military dictator to present arguments on the maintainability of the petition seeking suspension of the ex-army chief’s high treason trial in a special court.
Justice Sayyed Mazhar Ali Akbar Naqvi told Musharraf’s counsel to argue on the maintainability of the petition on Tuesday. “How can the LHC hear this petition when matters relating to Musharraf are pending in the country’s top court [Supreme Court of Pakistan]?” asked Justice Naqvi.
“Also, how is the petition maintainable in LHC when the petitioner is a resident of Islamabad?”
The ailing former military ruler had last week petitioned LHC to stay the proceedings of a special court trying him for “subverting the Constitution on November 3, 2007” until he recuperates and appears before the court in person.
Citing the example of cases against former PM Nawaz Sharif, Musharraf’s counsel argued that the LHC had found Nawaz’s petition maintainable although his cases were also being heard in Islamabad.
“Nawaz Sharif is a resident of Lahore while Musharraf is a resident of Islamabad,” replied Justice Naqvi.
The counsel further contended that the treason case against Musharraf was filed without following due process. “The case was filed with only the approval of then-premier Nawaz. His cabinet’s approval was never sought,” said Musharraf’s lawyer.
Justice Naqvi adjourned the proceedings till Tuesday and directed the former army chief’s counsel to explain why his petition should be heard by the LHC.
On November 19, the three-judge special court, which has been hearing the high treason case against Musharraf since 2013, reserved its verdict after six years.
The verdict is likely to be announced on November 28 in the absence of Musharraf, who went to the United Arab Emirates in May 2016 for ‘medical treatment’ and has not returned since to face the court. The high treason charge carries capital punishment in Pakistan.
MUSHARRAF CASE:
The PML-N government had filed the treason case against Musharraf over the president’s imposition of an extra-constitutional emergency in November 2007.
Earlier this year, head of the prosecution, Mohammad Akram Sheikh, tendered his resignation. In his resignation letter sent to the interior secretary, Sheikh expressed his inability to proceed with the case after the imminent change of government at the centre.
Sheikh was appointed as the head of the prosecution in the case in November 2013, by the then-PML-N led government.
The former army chief was indicted in the case in March 2014 after he appeared before the court and rejected all charges.
On March 18, 2016, the former president left Pakistan for Dubai for medical treatment after his name was removed from the Exit Control List on the orders of the Supreme Court.
A few months later, the special court had declared him a proclaimed offender and ordered the confiscation of his property owing to his no-show. Later, on orders of the Supreme Court, Musharraf’s passport and identity card were also cancelled.
