Musharraf case proceedings to be delayed as judge schedules foreign visit

CJ LHC will be on official visit from July 2 to July 20

ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Lahore High Court Justice Yawar Ali, scheduled to hear the high treason case against former military ruler Pervez Musharraf, will be unable to attend the proceedings as he will be on an official foreign visit.

The LHC chief justice will be on an official visit from July 2 to July 20, postponing next week's hearing against former president Musharraf. Since Justice Yawar's return is days before the election, the delay in hearings is inevitable.

Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar has nominated Justice Yawar as head of a three-judge special court holding high treason trial of Musharraf on the charges of subverting the Constitution by imposing emergency on November 3, 2007.



According to sources, the CJP has also proposed the name of the Sindh High Court (SHC) Judge Nazar Akbar as a new member of the bench. The third member of the bench is Justice Tahira Safdar of the Balochistan High Court (BHC).

The nominations were made on the government's request after the head of the bench, Peshawar High Court (PHC) Chief Justice Yahya Afridi, recused himself from the case last week.

Musharraf’s counsel had earlier raised objections to Justice Afridi’s presence on the bench, arguing that he was part of the lawyers’ movement against the former president in 2007-08.

Justice Yawar Ali, who is set to retire on October 22, has been part of the bench since the beginning of the case in November 2013. It will be interesting to see whether or not the special court will be able to conclude its proceedings before his retirement.