ISLAMABAD               -           Former law minister and PTI leader Babar Awan has said that former president Pervez Musharraf can file an appeal in the Supreme Court (SC) in his absence against verdict in the high treason case.

Addressing a press conference here on Monday, he referred to a judgment, SCMR 1999, page 1619 of the SC given by the then Chief Justice Irshad Hussain, which had laid down that an appeal could be filed in the absence of the accused.

Former minister stated that the government would adopt legal and constitutional procedure in Musharraf’s case and may approach the court against the verdict.

He said that some elements were talking of the clash of institutions, basing it on the contents of para 66 of the verdict, asserting that no such clash would ever occur in the presence of Prime Minister Imran Khan. “It is only the wish of some elements, who want to destabilise the country,” Awan added.

He said that if ever such a clash between institutions took place, it occurred in 1997, when well-known politicians and senators attacked the court of Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, adding most of them were out of the country at the moment.

Referring to speculations about the in-house change, Awan said the elements talking about such a change had already failed in their objectives, adding there was no possibility of such a change as circumstances were not favourable.

The former minister, while criticising the PML-N leadership, said those who were blaming PTI for not letting them out of the country for treatment, had suddenly become well as soon as they flew from the country.

He said that the PTI government had never politicized the illness of Nawaz Sharif, adding that the decision of not allowing Maryam Nawaz to travel abroad was supremacy of law.

He regretted that some elements had tried to destabilise the PTI government from the day one. “We have to make the parliament voice of the poor people; not merely a house where speeches are made,” Awan said.

Regarding Indian brutalities in the occupied Kashmir and on minorities, particularly Muslims, inside the country, he demanded the United Nations (UN) to suspend India’s membership by invoking Article 6 of the UN charter.

Expressing the fear that India might stage false flag operation against Pakistan to divert the attention of the world from its internal issues, he said that India would face severe consequences if it attacked Pakistan.

To a question, Awan said the PTI government had never made internal issues matters of ego and no personal revenges were there.

He claimed that financial situation of the country was getting better day by day due to the policies of the government.

The former minister appealed to the media to highlight positive aspects of the PTI government as well, as some external elements were trying to spread anarchy in the country.

“We as a nation should stand with our prime security institutions and also should maintain internal harmony,” he concluded.