Musharraf challenges special court's decision in high treason case

Former president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf on Saturday moved the Lahore High Court against the special court’s step to reserve the verdict in a case against him.

A three-member bench, comprising the Peshawar high court chief justice and head of the special court Justice Waqar Seth, announced to reserve the ruling after completing the proceedings in the case on November 18.

Musharraf’s decision to challenge the special court’s measure comes just days before it will announce the ruling on November 28.

Filing the application through his counsel, Khwaja Ahmed Tariq Rahim, the former president appealed to the court that he was staying abroad for his medical treatment hence, he couldn't produce his defence in the case.

Musharraf pleaded to the court to suspend the court’s order from that date and stay "the trial in absentia being conducted against the petitioner" until he was able again to physically appear before the court.

The former president petitioned the court to annul the special court's decision to preserve the ruling and put off the hearing of the treason case against him until he recovers.

During the earlier hearing of the case, the government had sacked the entire prosecution team in the case.

High treason case

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government had filed the treason case against Musharraf over the president's imposition of extra-constitutional emergency in November 2007.

Earlier this year, head of the prosecution, Mohammad Akram Sheikh, tendered his resignation. In his resignation letter sent to the interior secretary, Sheikh expressed his inability to proceed with the case after the imminent change of government at the centre.

Sheikh was appointed as the head of the prosecution in the case in November 2013, by the then-PML-N led government.

The former army chief was indicted in the case in March 2014 after he appeared before the court and rejected all charges.

On March 18, 2016, the former president left Pakistan for Dubai for medical treatment after his name was removed from the exit control list on the orders of the Supreme Court.

A few months later, the special court had declared him a proclaimed offender and ordered the confiscation of his property owing to his continuous inability to appear.

Later, his passport and identity card were also cancelled on orders of the apex court.