LAHORE - The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday again sought complete record of the high treason case against former president Pervez Musharraf from the special court till December 10.
The LHC’s orders came in a petition filed by the former military ruler, challenging the formation and proceedings of the special court in the case against him.
The court proceedings were conducted by Justice Syed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi while the law and interior ministries’ representatives appeared before the court.
When the court asked lawyers of the federal government as to why they had not submitted record of the case before the court, they submitted that the record could not be produced as it was lying with the Islamabad High Court (IHC).
On the other side, Advocate Azhar Siddique, representing Pervez Musharraf, said that the complaint was filed with a mala fide intention on the directives issued by the then prime minister Nawaz Sharif since he was directly aggrieved by the act of petitioner Pervez Musharraf.
Citing the Supreme Court (SC) judgment in Mustafa Impex case, the lawyer argued that the complaint was filed without approval of the cabinet, which itself was in defiance of the guidelines set by the apex court in the case.
He said that legal formalities, as laid down in Article 10-A, were not adopted and submitted that it was not only against the dictum of due process of law but also against the basic principles of natural justice.
The counsel for Musharraf argued that the proceedings carried out in pursuance of the complaint were also a violation of Section 4, 5 and 11 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1976. He further said that the SC had not ordered that the proceedings be conducted on the directives of prime minister, and cited Maulvi Iqbal Haider case in favour of his arguments.
Meanwhile, the court was informed by a federal law officer that the attorney general did not appear before the court due to non-availability of the record.
He submitted that the record would be procured from the Islamabad High Court (IHC) soon and then the attorney general would appear before the court.
The court adjourned further hearing till December 10 with directions to the law officer to produce the record in the next hearing.
During the last hearing, the LHC had directed the federal government to submit complete record of the high treason case against Musharraf in which the special court had reserved its verdict.
The former military ruler had sought suspension of his trial in absentia.
On November 19, the special court had concluded the trial against the former president for declaring a state of emergency on November 3, 2007.
The special court had decided that a verdict would be announced on November 28 on the basis of available record.
It is pertinent to mention here that the IHC had granted a stay order in the case and also ordered that fair trial be ensured.