The Supreme Court of Pakistan has declared the Lahore High Court’s Jan 2020 order annulling the death sentence awarded by the special court to former president Pervez Musharraf in the high treason case unconstitutional.
The apex court has issued the detailed verdict, saying the high court not only violated Constitution and law but also intervened in appellate jurisdiction of the top court.
“The high court should have remained within the confines of the dispute brought before it and decided the same in accordance with the law and the Constitution,” Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, who was part of the four-member SC bench hearing the petition, observed in the ruling. On Jan 10, the apex court upheld the death sentence handed down to the late Pervez Musharraf, who was also a military ruler, by a special court.
A four-member bench, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa, and comprising Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Ameenuddin Khan and Justice Athar Minallah had issued the ruling. In the detailed judgment, the apex court ruled that LHC had not enjoyed any jurisdiction to hear a case regarding constitution of the special court.
The special court was established in Islamabad and it did not fall under the domain of the LHC, it said, adding that authorized forum was bypassed while filing the petition in the high court. By issuing the ruling, the LHC had unlawfully crossed into jurisdiction exclusively vested in the top court, Justice Mansoor Ali Shah remarked, adding that the petitioner was granted relief, which was not even sought by petitioner in the plea.
