ISLAMABAD - The Supreme Court has been moved on Monday to array incumbent Federal Law and Justice Minister, Zahid Hamid, among the collaborators and abettors who aided Pervez Musharraf for imposing Emergency on 3rd November 2007 and subsequent unconstitutional and unlawful acts.
Sheikh Ahsan-ud-Din, along with other six petitioners, has already filed the application against former President General (Retd) Pervez Musharrf for imposing Emergency and Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO) on 3rd November 2007. The next date of hearing of the petitions is fixed June 24, 2013.
He further prayed that all the record in custody of ministry of law and justice pertaining to Emergency from 3rd November 2007 to 16th December 2007, be sealed and the ministry be directed to take all the steps and measures to keep the record intact and save from any manipulation, tampering, changing or misplacement.
The learned counsel also prayed, “Zahid Hamid should be restrained from acting as law minister till the disposal of instant petitions, so that new government under Prime Minister Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, could form an independent and fair opinion regarding trial of Musharraf and to avoid tampering of record.”
Zahid Hamid was the law minister in the cabinet of the then Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz when Musharraf being the President of Pakistan imposed Emergency in the country. He was inducted in the then Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz’s cabinet on 6th August 2007 and his portfolio from Minister of Privatisation to Law and Justice Minister a few months ago of the 3rd November event. During his tenure as law minister Emergency was imposed in the country on 3rd November 2007.
Sh Ahsan-ud-Din alleged that the incumbent law minister is a very close friend of Musharraf and the proclamation of emergency was his brainchild. The learned counsel stated that Hamid was also responsible for not executing the restraining order passed by 7-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on 3rd November, 2007, though the SC Registrar had conveyed the Court order to incumbent law minister well in time before the imposition of Emergency.
All the notifications related to 3rd November 2007 were issued by the law ministry on the direction of Zahid Hamid. “All the actions of Zahid Hamid were amounting to signing the black warrants of judiciary, lawyers and judges of superior court as he was the master mind of the whole plan.” Sh Ahsan-ud-Din said, as the high treason case, under Article 6 of Constitution, against Musharraf was at final stage therefore Zahid Hamid has been inducted as Law Minister mala fide only to provide safe passage to former President.