Skip to main content

LHC returns Musharraf application against his conviction

LAHORE: The registrar office of the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday returned a civil miscellaneous application by former president retired Gen Pervez Musharraf against his conviction in the high treason case by a special court, citing unavailability of the full bench during winter vacations.

A legal panel comprising Khawaja Ahmad Tariq Rahim and Azhar Siddique had filed the application under Section 151 of the Civil Procedure Code (CPC) in a pending main writ petition of Mr Musharraf under Article 199 of the Constitution challenging all actions starting from complaint of high treason to establishment of the special trial court and its proceedings.

A three-judge full bench recently constituted by LHC Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Shamim Khan is scheduled to take up the main petition on Jan 9.

The bench comprises Justice Syed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, Justice Muhammad Ameer Bhatti and Justice Chaudhry Masood Jahangir.

Justice Naqvi, hearing the petition of Mr Musharraf as a single bench, had referred it to a larger bench pointing out important legal questions in the matter.

Registrar’s office says full bench is not available during winter vacations

The special court had announced its verdict on Dec 17 and handed down death penalty to Mr Musharraf with a 2-1 majority.

In the civil miscellaneous application, Mr Musharraf asked the high court to set aside the special court’s verdict for being illegal, without jurisdiction, unconstitutional and in violation of Articles 10-A, 4, 5, 10 and 10-A of the Constitution.

Advocate Siddique told Dawn that the registrar’s office returned the application as the full bench was not available during the winter vacations. He said the application would be filed in the first week of January.

A roster of judges issued by the LHC for the winter vacations from Dec 25 to Jan 8 said during the vacations only the cases of an urgent nature, including pre-arrest/post-arrest bail petitions, habeas corpus petitions and petitions under Section 22A/22B of CrPC will be entertained and heard.

The 85-page civil miscellaneous application stated that Mr Musharraf was not given a chance to present his arguments.

It said: “The hastily announced judgment is emanating from a prosecution case which suffers, for all intents and purposes from an admitted, noticeable and unexplained delay of over five years from the date of the alleged offence and initiation of proceeding.”

It also specifically assailed paragraph 66 of the special court’s verdict wherein its head Justice Waqar Seth in his minority view said: “We direct the law enforcement agencies to strive their level best to apprehend the fugitive/convict and to ensure that the punishment is inflicted as per law and if found dead, his corpse be dragged to the D-Chowk, Islamabad, Pakistan, and be hanged for three days.” The application argued that the president of the special court had crossed all religious, moral, civil and constitutional limits, while ruthlessly, irreligiously, unlawfully, unrealistically awarding a sentence against the dignity of a person.

It said: “The wordings in paragraph 66 of the impugned judgement, although holding minority view, are still an exercise of languages which directly violates Article 2 of the code of conduct to be observed by the judges.”

“The Special Court did not take into consideration that no actions detrimental to national interest were ever taken by General (retired) Pervez Musharraf. No offence of High Treason is made out from the evidence which had been presented before the Special Court. Even after the introduction of 18th Amendment Article 6 of the Constitution passed on April 20, 2010, it is still clear that General (retired) Pervez Musharraf did not commit any offence,” contended the application.

It highlighted that special court’s member Justice Nazar Akbar in his dissenting note mentioned that the actions taken by Mr Musharraf on Nov 3, 2007 could be termed illegal and unconstitutional but they could not be tantamount to treason.

Published in Dawn, December 28th, 2019



from The Dawn News - Home https://ift.tt/2spLCt2
via IFTTT
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Today’s outlook: Sindh CM discusses reopening markets with PM Khan

Here are some of the stories we are expecting to follow today (Thursday): Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah will take Prime Minister Imran Khan into confidence over reopening shops and markets across the province. The reopened markets will have to follow SOPs. Sindh Transport Minister Awais Qadir Shah will discuss SOPs with transporters for resuming public transport in the coming days. The meeting will be held at the Sindh Assembly building at 1:30pm. The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority has proposed a price cut of Rs20.68 per litre for petrol in its summary. Imam-e-Kaaba Sheikh Abdul Rahman Al-Sudais has said Masjid Al Haram and Masjid Al Nabawi will be reopened for worshipers soon. He said the Kaaba is being sterilised using latest technologies. Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar will head various meetings during his visit to Bahawalpur. As of Thursday, Pakistan has reported more than 15,500 confirmed coronavirus cases. ICYMI: An amendment to the National Accountability Or...
Post a Comment
Read more

Today’s outlook: Federal Cabinet discusses COVID-19, Islamabad eases lockdown

Here are some of the news stories we are expecting to follow today (Tuesday): Prime Minister Imran Khan will chair a meeting of the Federal Cabinet in Islamabad to discuss the current situation in the country because of the novel coronavirus. The Cabinet will approve decisions made in the last Economic Coordination Committee meeting along with a relief package for journalists. The Islamabad High Court will hear a case pertaining to giving relief to textile mills in paying their electricity bills. The court had asked the mill owners to ensure a guarantee that they’ll not lay off any daily wage worker. The Sindh government has resumed operations of 153 more factories. They have directed them to follow all SOPs. The Islamabad administration has eased the lockdown. Hiking trails and parks across the federal capital have been reopened for the public. Sindh Governor Imran Ismail has tested positive for the novel coronavirus. He is the second politician from Sindh, after Education Minis...
Post a Comment
Read more

Rouhani calls Imran, discusses resumption of trade

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Iran on Wednesday discussed full resumption of bilateral trade, which was halted last month because of the Covid-19 pandemic. “The two sides stressed the need to reactivate borders and border markets and strengthen trade ties by following health guidelines,” a statement issued by the Iranian presidency on the telephonic conversation between Prime Minister Imran Khan and President Dr Hassan Rouhani said. President Rouhani had called the prime minister for Ramazan greetings. Border trade between the two countries was suspended after a meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC), held on March 13, decided to close all borders because of the pandemic. Islamabad partially relaxed the restrictions on April 21, allowing the import of certain food items and provision of petrol and diesel to the border areas. Cargo traffic from Iran was allowed for three days every week. Cargo movement between the two countries takes place through five border crossings — Taftan...
Post a Comment
Read more