ISLAMABAD  - The federal interior secretary Wednesday rubbished the defence counsels’ suggestion that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif singled out Pervez Musharraf in high treason case due to personal grudge, enmity and vendetta.
Interior Secretary Shahid Khan also denied that he acted solely on the directions of the prime minister and lodged complaint against General (Retd) Pervez Musharraf and excluded other persons who were collaborators, aiders or conspirators. He was replying to the queries put to him by Musharraf’s legal team in the presence of a three-judge Special Court presided over by Justice Faisal Arab.
Farogh Naseem concluded the cross-examination on federal interior secretary on Wednesday and now Khalid Rasool, Siraj Ahmed and Taj Ahmed Khan would record their statement today (Thursday).
The secretary also told that General (Retd) Pervez Musharraf had issued order for the proclamation of emergency as chief of army staff on 3rd November 2007 and revoked it as President on 15th December 2007. He said by not dissenting or protesting against the emergency the then services chiefs, vice-chief of army staff and corps commanders committed illegality and were therefore not collaborators, abettors, conspirators and aiders in the 3rd November action. “The inquiry team also did not find any evidence about the involvement of other army officers in the 3rd November action.”
The secretary told that failure to act or act for following illegal orders does not fall in the definition of abettor, aiders or conspirators. He also denied that Pervez Musharraf issued proclamation of emergency on the advice of the then prime minister, chief ministers, governors, services chiefs, corps commanders and the politicians, adding there was no such evidence against any of them on the record.
Farogh Naseem questioned if Ashfaq Pervaiz Kayani had not withdrawn the emergency after becoming COAS then can’t he be regarded as aider or abettor or collaborator. He said that Supreme Court in 2005 decision had allowed the accused (Musharraf) to hold two offices - COAS and President.
Shahid Khan said that he was not the constitutional expert and therefore could not say if Musharraf had revoked emergency as president then he had imposed the emergency as president.
The secretary informed that he was posted in Saudi Arabia when the emergency was imposed in the country, and did not protest against the 3rd November action. He denied meeting Prime Nawaz Sharif or any member of his family during his tenure as DG Haj in Saudi Arabia.
He said, “When I was holding position as home secretary Punjab and the industrial secretary during the government of Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, I never had close relationship with Nawaz Sharif or any member of his family.”
He conceded that it is matter of record that after the proclamation of emergency the federal and the provincial government, cabinet and the national and provincial assemblies functioned under the changed dispensation (system) and the bureaucrats of grade-20 and above performed their duties. But he said it was not in his knowledge that anyone of them protested against the emergency.
Shahid Khan said that the members of the investigation team attempted to visit GHQ to record the statements of those army officers, who held position on or after the 3rd November 2007 emergency, adding the team did not succeed in its attempts. He said the most of the armed forces office have retired now and it was in his knowledge that after the retirement the military officer had become private and were not stationed in the GHQ.
He said the investigative team of FIA was wrongly termed as joint investigation team. There was no such declaration on part of the federation that the investigation would be carried out by joint investigation team because the notification for it was for the investigation team and not for JIT. The hearing was adjourned till Thursday.