SC can exempt Musharraf from apprearing to file plea: Salman Akram
Hanging the former president’s body at D-chowk is not possible as two judges had already opposed it, he says
December 19, 2019
Senior lawyer and law expert Salman Akram Raja said on Thursday that the Supreme Court (SC) can exempt General (r) Pervez Musharraf from appearing in court to file a plea.
Referring to the controversial paragraph 66 of the verdict against the former army chief by the special court, Raja said that it was not possible to hang Musharraf's corpse at D-Chowk as the verdict lacked consensus.
Raja said that paragraph 66 was controversial and that he did not expect the court to state an observation in the tone that it was mentioned.
He said that the dissenting note from a judge did not mean that the case was weak. Raja said that it wasn't possible for the government to withdraw from the case.
The verdict, penned by Peshawar High Court Chief Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth, sentenced the former military dictator to death. However, Paragraph 66 of the verdict was the portion that drew an outcry.
It said: "We direct the Law Enforcement Agencies to strive their level best to apprehend the fugitive/convict and to ensure that the punishment is inflicted as per law and if found dead, his corpse be dragged to the D-Chowk, Islamabad, Pakistan and be hanged for 03 days."
The observation drew reactions from legal experts, analysts and politicians. Reacting to the judgement, Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari noted that while she was not going to comment on the judgement, she was "aghast" at "the language of a senior judge".
