The Islamabad High Court has once again dismissed a petition that sought deletion of terrorism charges against former president retired Gen Pervez Musharraf and transfer of the judges’ detention case from the Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) to the sessions court. The court maintained that since the former dictator is not appearing before it, there is no question of any concession. Moreover, the court also noted that detaining sitting judges is also an act of terrorism.
An IHC division bench comprising Chief Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb had resumed the hearing of the petition filed by Gen Musharraf through his lawyer Akhtar Shah.
The bench dismissed the petition because of the repeated absence of Mr. Shah during the hearing of the case.
The former military ruler has been seeking deletion of terrorism charges and subsequent transfer of his case from the ATC to the sessions court on the ground that initially the first information report (FIR) was registered under the Pakistan Penal Code against him in connection with the detention of 60 judges of the superior judiciary after the imposition of emergency on Nov 3, 2007.
However, in 2013, a single-member bench of the IHC had ordered the police to invoke the anti-terror law against the military dictator since detaining judges is an act of terrorism.
It is worth noting that the special court seized with the high treason trial of former military dictator retired Gen Pervez Musharraf has decided to proceed in the case on a daily basis to conclude the trial pending since December 2013.
Analysts believe the conclusion of the case in either way, for or against, is likely to benefit Musharraf for several reasons.
he special court comprising Justice Nazar Akbar and Justice Shahid Karim resumed proceedings in the treason trial on last Tuesday. Advocate Raza Bashir, the defense counsel appointed by the law ministry on the directive of the special court, filed an application seeking his meeting with Mr. Musharraf for getting instructions from him to argue the case. The court expressed displeasure and later adjourned the case.
Background of the case
Musharraf is being trialed for imposing emergency in 2007 and detaining the judges of the Supreme Court of Pakistan. A case was registered against him in 2013 and his name was placed in the Exit Control List (ECL) by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on the directives of the Sindh High Court (SHC). Later on, the Supreme Court of Pakistan allowed Musharraf to go abroad for his medical check-up and his name was removed from the ECL.
Moreover, the special court has declared Mr. Musharraf an absconder, issued perpetual warrants of his arrest and commenced proceedings under Section 87, 88 CrPC for attachment of his properties on July 19, 2016. On April 29, 2018, an application was filed by the federal government to give verdict on high treason case against Musharraf as early as possible.
