Musharraf treason case

The highly-anticipated verdict in a treason case against former military ruler retired General Pervez Musharraf has been halted just a day before it was set to be announced. The former self-proclaimed president may never be brought to justice.

When a special court reserved its verdict in the case that been dragging on since 2014, it was considered to be a pivotal moment in the history of the country. The army chief holds considerable influence and has never been tried or sentenced. On the contrary, no prime minister has ever completed a full term. They have either been dismissed, parliaments dissolved and faced a full-fledged coup d’état. The prospects of sentencing Musharraf raised hopes about strengthening democracy in the country.

Musharraf was tried in absentia for a high treason of Article 6 of the Constitution. He is accused of subverting and abrogating the Constitution and suspending fundamental rights after imposing a state of emergency on November 3, 2007. The fateful day is still well known when the lawyers’ movement was at its peak, the opposition was on the streets and Musharraf was under pressure to hold elections. He eventually resigned the next year and democracy was restored.

A surprising development happened earlier this week when the PTI government filed a petition to stop the verdict by the special court. It is mind-blogging that a democratically-elected government came to aid a former military dictator. Musharraf’s own lawyers had filed a case to prevent the verdict and yet the interior ministry filed a similar petition. The government stated that the prosecution team had already been dismissed. This has created new concerns that the present government has hidden interests.

Prime Minister Imran Khan recently asked the superior judiciary to restore public trust by not favouring the powerful over the weak. This criticism was not well received by the judiciary and the Chief Justice made a scathing rejoinder warning to refrain from making such comments. The top judge also termed the impending verdict in Musharraf’s case as evidence that everyone is equal in the eyes of laws. It needs to be seen whether will the judiciary will overrule and still announce the verdict to be announced.

The government has shown poor judgment in supporting a former military ruler. Musharraf has said that most of the men in Imran Khan’s cabinet are his. He was probably right as they would have likely advised the prime minister on the matter. This also dented Imran Khan’s highly popular narrative about accountability and action against corruption. The government should carefully tread on such sensitive matters and should not undermine democracy in the country.