Supreme Court orders release of Pervez Musharraf's attacker

• Petitioner's lawyer says Tanveer not being released despite completion of sentence.
• "My client has been in the prison for almost 20 years," he says.
• Tanveer was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2005. 

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Monday ordered the release of the accused who attacked the former president and military ruler General (retd) Pervez Musharraf.

A three-member bench headed by Justice Sardar Tariq Masood heard the case related to the non-release of the accused Rana Tanveer despite the completion of his sentence.

During the hearing, the petitioner's lawyer Hashmat Habib said that his client has completed his sentence, however, he is still not being released.

"The term of life imprisonment is 14 years and my client has been in the prison for almost 20 years," said Habib.

After hearing arguments from both sides, the top court rejected the federal and Punjab governments' pleas against Tanveer's release and ordered the jail authorities to set him free.

Tanveer was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2005 by the apex court after he was arrested on December 31, 2003, in the Rawalpindi pump attack case.