Islamabad - Special Anti-Terrorist Court (ATC) Islamabad Friday exempted former military ruler Gen (Retd) Pervez Musharraf from appearance before the court for one day in judges’ detention case.
After accepting the plea of one-day exemption from appearing before the court, the ATC judge deferred the hearing of judges’ detention case against Musharraf till June 5.
According to details, ATC Judge Sohail Akram conducted the hearing of the case while Ilyas Siddiqui Advocate appeared before the court on behalf of the former president while Prosecutor Aamir Nadeem Tabish represented the federation.
During the hearing, Musharraf’s counsel submitted an application and sought exemption for his client stating that the former president could not attend the hearing due to his ailment whereas he also has security concerns; therefore his client should be permitted one-day exemption. Musharraf’s counsel also contended that his client had been granted permanent exemption in Akbar Bugti murder case by ATC Quetta and the same should also be granted in this case. Moreover, Advocate Siddiqui also requested the court to summon the witnesses to record their statements.
On the other hand, public prosecutor Amir Nadeem Tabish opposed the application seeking exemption and contended that the case had been pending before the court for last one and half years. He added that the no progress is being carried out in the case due to constant absence of Musharraf.
He also argued that statements of witnesses could not be recorded in absence of Pervez Musharraf; therefore the court should immediately summon him.
After hearing the arguments of both the parties, the ATC judge directed the counsel to submit Musharraf’s medical report on the next hearing and summoned three witnesses including Sub-Inspector Dildar, Head Constable Muhammad Afzal and Constable Hamadullah on the next hearing to record their statements.