Musharraf treason case: SC summons details from Interior Secretary

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan has summoned details from the Interior Secretary during hearing of five identical petitions seeking a treason trial against former President General (retd) Pervez Musharraf.

The Supreme Court has asked the Interior Secretary to provide documentary evidence pertaining to what action was taken after the Senate resolution was passed. In its order, the apex court stated that a petition seeking the formation of a lager bench to hear the case had been sent to Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and he would make a decision in this regard.

Earlier, the federation requested the Supreme Court for an extra week to submit a detailed reply in the case. The time was sought to answer questions pertaining to whether Article 6 applies to Musharraf and if he should be tried for treason.

Attorney General Irfan Qadir, during Wednesday’s proceedings, said that the current government represents a caretaker setup and its limited mandate is to conduct free and fair elections. He continued saying that it must be watched that any such action should not affect the fairness of the caretaker government.

On this, Justice Khilji Arif remarked that the court’s orders are not given due importance and that the caretaker government should have taken a serious note of the SC’s ruling in the case.

He went on to say that apparently it is the responsibility of the federation to register a lawsuit in this case.

Musharraf's lawyer Ahmed Raza Kasuri said that judges are also included among those who supported Musharraf. Replying to this, Justice Jawwad S Khawaja said that they are ready if federation wants to initiate a trial against them.