Former President Pervez Musharraf
Islamabad … News Time
The Islamabad High Court has ordered the stay of the judgment reserved by the special court in a serious treason case against former President General (retd) Pervez Musharraf. A three-member bench comprising Justice Aamir Farooq and Justice Salman Safdar headed by Islamabad High Court Chief Justice Athar Minallah on the request of the Interior Ministry. At the beginning of the hearing, the Chief Justice directed Pervez Musharraf’s lawyer Salman Safdar to sit in the back seat now we will hear the Interior Ministry first. The Chief Justice asked the public prosecutor to first tell you what the relevant laws are. At which Additional Attorney General Sajid Ilyas Bhatti began arguing. The Chief Justice inquired as to what constitutes an official notification for the formation of the Special Court, and the Additional Attorney General informed him that the notification was there. At the beginning of the hearing, the Chief Justice Islamabad High Court had, in the absence of justice and justice, ordered that the secretary appear in court with the law record in half an hour. After that the Chief Justice directed the Additional Attorney General to explain the formation and notification of special courts. And ask if the law you have read can take back information?
The Additional Attorney General told the court that in consultation with the Chief Justice of Pakistan, special judges are appointed. Taking the point, the Chief Justice asked that the actions of the October 1999 amendment to the 18th Amendment of the Constitution were also suspended. Have you seen them? And why didn’t you file a new application after the 18th Amendment? Chief Justice Islamabad High Court remarked that since the federal government is a petitioner in this case, there is considerable burden on the court. Additional Attorney General said that a special court comprising Justice Waqar Seth, Justice Nazir Akbar and Justice Shahid Karim was formed on October 4, 2019, but representatives of the Law Ministry have gone out with the file.
Justice Amir Farooq instructed the Additional Attorney General Sajid Ilyas Bhatti to re-read paragraph number 16 of page 5 of your own petition because if you were asking questions, you would say the file has gone out. Justice Aamir Farooq expressed his gratitude to the Additional Attorney General and said that next week, we will make preparations. You are saying that the setting up of a special court for the trial was not correct and you are now arguing that it is not so, then your request is not correct. Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani said that after all these years you now know that the complaint filed by the federal government is not valid, If this is the case then withdraw your complaint, the Ministry of Interior found out after many years that the application for treason case was not valid. Justice Mohsen Kayani further said, “Go and make a statement. We are withdrawing the petition against Musharraf, why have you come to court, if you had made a mistake then how to fix it now? Have you applied for permission with a cabinet?
On which the Chief Justice asked the government lawyer why you are not going to the same tribunal in which the Musharraf case is being challenged. Why did you come to the High Court? The complainant himself is saying that my complaint was invalid; do you want to retake Pervez Musharraf? During the hearing, Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani said that you have brought this case here today with the permission of the Federal Cabinet. If you are admitting your mistake, tell the same to the relevant tribunal. Chief Justice Islamabad High Court asked the Additional Attorney General to correct your errors. Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani remarked that you say that you do not want to prosecute Musharraf, does not the federal government want to go to trial against Pervez Musharraf today? To which Justice Aamir Farooq said: Tell us what we should do now. What order do you want from us? Addressing the Additional Attorney General, Chief Justice Athar Minallah said that you are saying that the application for running a treason case was wrong and the forum for trial. To which the Additional Attorney General informed the court that it is our plea that the special court should not decide the case as the prosecution has not yet been heard.
The chief justice remarked that the federal government was to issue a notification of prosecution; the former federal government issued the notification and withdrew. Justice Aamir Farooq asked the court to tell us clearly what the government wants. The mistake is yours; you have to make the right. Chief Justice Athar Minallah remarked that for the first time, a person came to us saying that I had made a mistake. Justice Athar Minallah said that one person had attacked the judiciary before us. That person has also been advertised, the complexity is that we have to meet the requirements of his fair trial despite all this.
Justice Aamir Farooq said that after the resignation of the head of the prosecution team, the federal government did not make any new appointment; the head of the prosecution team has not been appointed for over a year. To which Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani said, it means that you do not want to prosecute Musharraf. Additional attorney general tells court the chief of the prosecution team was notified December 4 and on July 30, 2018, the head of the prosecution resigned after the team was de-notified on October 23, 2019. Chief Justice Athar Minallah inquired when the case was heard, in response to which the Additional Attorney General stated that the case was heard on October 24, 2019.
Justice Amir Farooq inquired why you had not been appointed the head of the prosecution for over a year, who had to be appointed, the judiciary or the executive? The government lawyer said the executive had to. Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani remarks that there is a need for the Minister of Law and Justice of such a government to come in? The notification issued by the Ministry of Law is wrong, and the punishment then goes to the entire nation. To which the Chief Justice of the Islamabad High Court said that this is the state of the law and is telling us what has done wrong. At the hearing, Justice Aamir Farooq directed to show notification of vacancy post Tahira Safdar’s retirement. Later, on being summoned, the secretary appeared in a court of law, expressing his unhappiness by Justice Aamir Farooq.
Chief Justice Athar Minallah said that according to the record, the composition of the special court was correct then why the interior ministry wrote in the petition that the formation of the court was not correct. To which the Additional Attorney General said, “Our position is that the prosecution team giving the final argument was not legal.” Justice Aamir Farooq asked the Additional Attorney General that if you correct your mistake, what we should do. You have not told all these things to the special court and you are here when the verdict is coming. The Additional Attorney General said the arguments given in the special court after the prosecution’s team was de-notified were invalid.
Justice Aamir Farooq said that you were to notify the prosecution team, you are going to make a mistake, and you have rectified the mistake. On the question of the court, the secretary said that the special court was formed after the approval of the cabinet. To which the court discovered that if the special court was made in accordance with the law then why did you write wrong in the petition? Did the Law Ministry or Attorney General advise that the complaint was false? The Additional Attorney General said that the special court was not given the opportunity to appoint the prosecution team. As the Tauseef Asif Advocate tried to speak at the hearing, the court stopped them saying that all irrelevant people should sit down. To which he said I am not irrelevant. Tauseef Asif Advocate pleaded in court that I was a petitioner in the treason case in the Supreme Court and wanted to say something. The Chief Justice addressed him saying that you should have filed a genuine defamation complaint from the Constitution; the emergency of November 3 was against the judges. We have put you in a difficult situation.
The court later summoned former president Pervez Musharraf’s lawyer Salman Safdar on the dice, who said that the petition I filed in my name was not from Pervez Musharraf. Barrister Salman Safdar told the court that you have a test case; I did not apply by Pervez Musharraf because when an accused is advertised, no lawyer can be filed on his behalf. He said that the court appointed a lawyer for the accused Pervez Musharraf who went to Umrah and he was not heard, if I’m being given another lawyer for advertising, why am I not allowed to appear? Salman Safdar said that I filed a lawyer on October 9, 2018, then Pervez Musharraf was absconding and on June 12, 2019, I was stopped from appearing by Pervez Musharraf. To which the court told them that you read the Supreme Court decision on judicial proceedings, he could not even sign a lawyer.
Justice Amir Farooq asked him whether the special court had given Pervez Musharraf the option to record the statement via video link. To which Salman Safdar said that the court gave the option but he did not accept it, Pervez Musharraf was ill and not in a position to record the statement through the video link. When the accused’s lawyer was not being heard, the trial was settled there. Barrister Salman Safdar said, “My case is why I get fired?” The laughter echoed in the courtroom. Justice Aamir Farooq said that the prosecution’s job is to bring any material in favor of the accused; otherwise the requirements of the fair trial cannot be met. On which the Additional Attorney General expressed concern that the prosecution was ours, Musharraf could not get the benefit of the entire situation, because if the accused got the benefit due to technical problems, there would be a total joke.
The Islamabad High Court reserved the judgment on the petitions filed to hold the judgment of the serious treason case, which subsequently reversed the special court’s decision and barred it from hearing. The high court also directed the federal government to appoint a new prosecutor of the treason case till December 5 and directed the special court to hear the decision from all the parties.
Serious treason case
It should be noted that the PML-N government had filed a serious treason case against former President Pervez Musharraf on November 3, 2007 against the imposition of emergency and the constitution and suspension. He did not appear at many hearings and later left the country due to illness. The special court in Islamabad reserved the judgment of serious treason case on November 19, 2019, which is to be heard on November 28 this year. However, Musharraf had filed a petition in the Lahore and Islamabad High Court against the aforesaid decision. At the same time, the federal government also approached the Islamabad High Court for refusing to pass a special court judgment. At the first hearing held yesterday, the court summoned the relevant records and secretary law.
