Treason trial: Akram Sheikh retains spot as main prosecutor

Musharraf’s move to challenge appointment fails.

ISLAMABAD:

Another request of former army chief General (retired) Pervez Musharraf was turned down on Friday, when the three-judge special court allowed the public prosecutor to retain his position in the high treason trial.

Dozens of All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) party workers marched against the decision and demanded justice for their chief. The march began at the office of Dr Amjad, the General Secretary in Musharraf’s party, near Embassy Road

The special court dismissed the request against the appointment of Akram Sheikh as prosecutor in the high treason case, saying that the Islamabad High Court has already decided the validity of the notification to appoint him.

As this court is a statutory court established to try the present criminal case, it not only lacks jurisdiction to exercise judicial review of administrative actions as available to a high court under the provisions of article 199 of the constitution, the court order mentioned but cannot sit in appeal over an issue which has already been adjudicated upon by the IHC in its constitutional jurisdiction.

“In the circumstances, we are left with no other alternative but to hold that this application is not maintainable in law and accordingly stands dismissed,” the bench held. Sheikh will retain his position as the lead prosecutor in this case.

The bench headed by Justice Faisal Arab had reserved its decision on Sheikh’s appointment on March 26 and it was read out today by the registrar of the special court.

On many occasions, Musharraf’s legal team had alleged that the prosecutor was biased against the former president, dubbing him a “persecutor”, rather than a prosecutor. On March 31, Musharraf was formally charged for subverting and circumventing the constitution by imposing emergency on November 3, 2007. Musharraf had rejected the charges levelled against him.

The court will decide Musharraf’s fresh application through which he sought access to official records which reveal his abettors for imposing emergency rule in 2007.

Prosecutor Sheikh denied such access. He told the special court that disclosure of the names of Musharraf’s alleged abettors will embarrass the government. When Justice Arab asked whether the accused has no right to seek details in a criminal case, Sheikh said, “We cannot embarrass the federal government by revealing the names of persons whom the Federal Investigation Agency has investigated.”

Sheikh also rebutted the defence’s claim that FIA officer Hussain Asghar penned a dissenting note which reportedly states that Musharraf should not be singled out for the 2007 emergency.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 19^th, 2014.