ISLAMABAD - The Sindh High Court Bar Association Tuesday filed a petition before the Supreme Court challenging the Lahore High Court (LHC) verdict to strike down notification of Special Court, which awarded death sentence to former president general (retd) Pervez Musharraf in the high treason case.

The petition of SHCBA prayed to the apex court to set aside the impugned judgment dated 13-01-2020 passed by the Lahore High Court as it suffers from gross illegality, non-appreciation of facts and law. It stated that the impugned judgment is based on misreading of evidence and non-appreciation of the material produced by the prosecution during trial, thus liable to be set aside. There is no material or case law which supports the impugned judgment, therefore, liable to be set aside.

It said that according to section 129(3) of Criminal Laws Amendment (Special Court) Act, 1976, “Any party aggrieved by the final judgment of the Special Court may prefer an appeal to the Supreme Court within thirty days of the passing of the judgment…” Therefore, no writ petition was competent in view of this section, it added.

The petitioner submitted that the LHC was debarred under Article 199(5) of the Constitution read with the judgment of the apex court reported as PLD 2015 SC 50 to entertain writ petition against the Special Court, therefore, assailing its judgment before the LHC in writ is contrary to the constitution and law.

The impugned judgment has failed to notice the evidence produced by the prosecution before the Special Court, which were not denied by Pervez Musharraf at any stage of the case and it is a well settled principle of Qanoon-e-Shahadat Order that the facts when not denied deemed to have been admitted by the parties as well as the admitted facts and circumstances need not be proved. The petition said that the LHC has erred by not appreciating that the prosecution based its case on admitted facts, circumstances and evidence which neither denied by Pervez Musharraf by his own nor by the defence taken by him.

It continued that the LHC failed to examine the true aspect of the matter and introduced its own verdict by setting the judgment of Special Court, which is nothing but a piece of paper and against the provisions of criminal jurisprudence. The petitioner said that it has approached the apex court for the supremacy of law, rule of law and the basic salient feature of Constitution, which based on justice and independence of judiciary.

According to the petition, the minutes of the cabinet meeting dated 24-06-2013 for formation of Special Court under the Act, 1976 are available on the record on that basis the notification dated 20-11-2013 was issued by the Ministry of Law and Justice for the establishment of Special Court.

It further said that two instruments i.e. Proclamation of Emergency and PCO No.1 of 2007 were issued by Musharraf as Chief of Army Staff, which the third instructed i.e. Oath Order 2007 was issued by him in his capacity as President of Pakistan.

The petitioner submitted that neither the Constitution nor any law permitted the former army chief to promulgate any of the said instruments in any of his capacities therefore, the action of November 3, 2007 were patently unconstitutional, illegal and invalid. The judgment passed by the Special Court declaring Musharraf guilty of the offence committed by him is legal and in accordance with the law.