LAHORE - The Lahore High Court on Monday restrained Defence Housing Authority (DHA) from selling seized properties of former chief of army staff Ziauddin Butt, besides directing it to submit its reply.
The former CAOS had filed a petition for grant of his post-retirement benefits and to declare his removal by then army chief Gen (r) Pervez Musharraf as illegal. He also sought a stay order against selling of his confiscated properties by the DHA.
On Monday, a deputy attorney general told the court that the case of the petitioner was assigned to him a day before and he had not sought instructions from federal government as yet. He requested the court to adjourn hearing to enable him to submit reply of the govt.  Justice Ijazul Ahsan adjourned hearing till Jan 27 and ordered the DHA to maintain status quo on the seized properties of the petitioner.
Gen (r) Butt in his petition submitted that then president Rafiq Tarar had on Oct 12, 1999 appointed him as chief of army staff on recommendations of then prime minister Mian Nawaz Sharif. Soon after his appointment, he along with the PM was detained by armed troops inside the Prime Minister’s House and later put into solitary confinement for two years.
Petitioner said during the confinement he was dismissed from service, his property was seized, and pension was also stopped. He pointed out that no action had been taken despite repeated appeals made to COAS within stipulated time.
He pleaded that being holder of a constitutional post he could not be ousted except in accordance with law and could not be sacked from service by a usurper (Musharraf). He said his right to the grant of pension had also been snatched without providing him opportunity of hearing.
The petitioner urged the court to declare his removal illegal and order the authorities concerned to release his properties and the post-retirement benefits.