Zubair Qureshi
Islamabad
A day before the special court constituted to hear former General Pervez Musharraf’s treason case, the Islamabad High Court on Wednesday stopped it from issuing the verdict.
The Interior Ministry had requested the IHC to set aside the special court’s decision to announce its judgement in the high treason case on November 28.
The court accepted the ministry’s petition and barred the special court from announcing the verdict.
A similar petition filed by Musharraf was disposed of with the court issuing directions on it.
“For reasons to be recorded later, we allow writ petition filed by the Ministry of Interior,” the court said in its short order, setting aside the special court’s Nov 19 decision to reserve its judgement in the case.
The IHC also directed the federal government to notify a new prosecutor or a team of prosecution in the treason case by December 5. In addition, the special court has been ordered to fix a date “for affording a reasonable opportunity of hearing” to the notified prosecutor or prosecution team as well as the counsel appointed for Musharraf. According to the short order, the special court is also “expected to take into consideration” the grounds raised in an application filed by Musharraf seeking his acquittal in the high treason case.
“The learned special court is expected to conclude the proceedings expeditiously having (regard) to the cardinal principles of fair trial,” the order reads.
The IHC also allowed Musharraf’s counsel Barrister Salman Safdar to assist the counsel appointed for the former military ruler during the hearing, if he so wishes.
The court had earlier in the day reserved its verdict on both Musharraf and the Interior Ministry’s petitions. The special court had on November 19 concluded the trial proceedings in the high treason case against Musharraf for declaring a state of emergency on November 3, 2007, and had ruled that a verdict would be announced on November 28 on the basis of the available record.
The three-member special court headed by Peshawar High Court Chief Justice Waqar Ahmed Seth, had observed that the prosecution team before being sacked had submitted detailed arguments which were sufficient to understand their point of view. The incumbent PTI government had denotified the entire prosecution team in the high treason case on Oct 24.
During Wednesday’s proceedings, a three-member larger bench of the Islamabad High Court comprising Chief Justice Athar Minallah, Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani asked Musharraf’s lawyer Salman Safdar to sit down as they were going to first hear the petition filed by the Interior Ministry.
“Is there an official notification about the formation of the special court?” Justice Minallah asked the government’s lawyer, Additional Attorney General (AAG) Sajid Ilyas Bhatti, as the hearing began.
The high court chief justice asked where Law Secretary Muhammad Khashih-ur-Rehman was. On Tuesday, the IHC had summoned the relevant record from the law secretary.
When it was told that Rehman was not present the court expressed its displeasure and sent orders to him to appear within half an hour along with the required record. When he arrived, the court expressed its displeasure. “This is your attitude. The case starts at 12:30pm and you arrive at 1:30pm,” remarked Justice Farooq.
Justice Minallah said as per the record, the special court had been formed correctly and enquired why the interior ministry had written that it was formed incorrectly in its petition. “Our case is that the prosecution team that presented the final arguments was not legal,” responded AAG Bhatti.
