ISLAMABAD: A petitioner moved the Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday against the Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) decision of barring the special court from announcing decision in the treason case against former military ruler General (r) Pervez Musharraf.
The November 27 decision, which came a day before the verdict was due, was announced by a two-member bench comprising Justice Amir Farooq and Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kiyani. The petition was filed by the interior ministry.
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Filed by former president Lahore High Court Bar Association Taufiq Asif, the petition questions the jurisdiction of the IHC to examine proceedings pending before the special court comprising high court judges.
It also questions whether the high court has jurisdiction to assume the role of an appellate court.
Furthermore, the petition also questions the maintainability of the interior ministry’s petition on grounds that it maybe have been filed “with ulterior motives”.
It said there were attempts to “withdraw the case inter alia” on the grounds that the federal cabinet’s approval was not taken at the time of the filing of the complaint against Musharraf.
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The petitioner further argued that the IHC judgment is contrary to the Constitution and the law of Pakistan.
The petition notes that the former army chief was also declared a proclaimed offender due to failure to appear before the special court.
The petition prayed to the apex court to set aside IHC verdict and declare it without lawful authority and jurisdiction thus of consequence.
The high treason trial of the former military dictator for imposing a state of emergency on November 3, 2007, has been pending since December 2013.
He was booked in the case in December 2013. Musharraf was indicted on March 31, 2014, and the prosecution had tabled the entire evidence before the special court in September the same year.
However, due to litigation at appellate forums, the trial of the former military dictator lingered on and he left Pakistan in March 2016.
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