Took all decisions as judge without fear or discrimination: CJP Khosa

ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa said on Friday that he had taken all decisions as a judge without fear or discrimination.

The chief justice, who will retire after midnight tonight, said that a horrendous campaign against him and the judiciary had been started after the special court released its verdict in the treason case against General (retd) Pervez Musharraf a few days ago.

The special court sentenced the former military dictator to death for abrogating the constitution and imposing a state of emergency in the country on November 3, 2007. Paragraph 66 of the verdict called on law enforcement agencies to arrest Musharraf and if found dead, drag his corpse to the D-Chowk in Islamabad and hang it for three days.

"The results or reactions to my decisions are not important" said the chief justice. "I always did what I thought was right."

Justice Khosa said that a judge's nerves must be of steel and his heart must be like that of a lion. The chief justice talked about allegations against him that he had supported the special court's verdict against Musharraf in a meeting with journalists.

"Accusations that I exerted undue influence on this [Musharraf high treason] case are baseless," he said. "I hope the truth will come out about this."

READ MORE: Musharraf treason case: Special court hands death penalty to former military ruler

Musharraf, 76, is currently in Dubai where he is seeking treatment of multiple diseases.

His high treason case had been heard by a special bench comprising Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth of the Peshawar High Court, Justice Shahid Karim of the Lahore High Court and Justice Nazar Akbar of the Sindh High Court (SHC). They had been appointed on the orders of the Supreme Court.

The court, in its short order had said it had analysed complaints, records, arguments and facts in the case for three months. The court added it had found Musharraf guilty of high treason according to Article 6 of the Constitution of Pakistan for imposing a state of emergency on November 03, 2007.

It was a majority verdict, with two of the three judges giving the decision against Musharraf. SHC's Justice Akbar had dissented from the verdict.