Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday has rejected former Army Chief and President Pervez Musharraf‘s plea against the order of special court allowing formation of judicial commission to go abroad and record former his statement in high treason case.
A two member bench of IHC comprising Justice Amir Farooq and Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kiyani resumed the hearing of the case.
The court heard a petition filed by retired Gen Pervez Musharraf’s counsel, who has sought a stay against the formation of a judicial commission that will record the absconding former dictator’s statement in a high treason case outstanding against him.
In the last hearing of the high treason case, a special court had ordered the formation of a commission that would go abroad to record Musharraf’s statement in accordance with Section 342 of the Code of Criminal Procedure — a development Musharraf’s counsel had opposed and moved the high court against.
“The order to form a commission to record a statement is illegal [in this case],” Musharraf’s counsel argued before a two-member IHC bench today. “A commission can only be formed to record the statement of a foreign witness.”
To this, Justice Amir Farooq inquired if there was any restriction on Musharraf preventing him from returning to Pakistan.
“It’s barely a two-hour flight from Dubai; [Musharraf should] just book a ticket and come back to Pakistan,” he advised.
Musharraf’s counsel replied that his client does not face any restrictions, but the only reason he was not returning was his illness.
“A proclaimed accused’s petition cannot be heard until he has surrendered to the court,” Justice Farooq reminded the counsel. “How is this petition maintainable despite him being a proclaimed accused — present your arguments on this point,” he urged.
The case was adjourned until November 19.
Musharraf is facing the high treason case for suspending the Constitution on Nov 3, 2007 — an offence for which he was indicted by the special court on March 31, 2014. That same year, the state prosecution laid down all its evidence but the progress in the case still slowed down due to the former military ruler having filed multiple petitions against his trial at the appellate forum.
