Petitioner moves IHC against PHC chief justice over Musharraf treason verdict

Petitioner says Justice Waqar Seth ‘violated’ code of conduct while authouring judgment in Musharraf treason case

ISLAMABAD: A petitioner on Saturday moved the Islamabad High Court (IHC), urging the federal government to file a reference against the Peshawar High Court (PHC) Chief Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth for “violating” the code of conduct while writing a verdict in a high treason case.

A three-judge special court – headed by Justice Waqar Seth – handed former president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf death penalty under Article 6 of the Constitution for abrogating the Constitution on November 3, 2007 and proclaiming emergency rule.

In his dissenting note,  Justice Seth, who authored the judgment, had called for the “corpse” of former army chief to be “dragged to D-Chowk” and “hanged for three days” if he dies of natural causes.

The military had angrily reacted to the verdict and said it had been received with “a lot of pain and anguish by the rank and file” of Pakistan’s armed forces.

The PTI led federal government had also decided to approach the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) against Justice Waqar Seth and said the judge had “violated judicial conduct” by issuing the “bizarre order”.

Referring to the government December 19 announcement, three Karachi-based NGOs filed a petition that said para 65, 66 and 67 in the Musharraf treason case were against the code of conduct.

It urged the government to file a reference against the PHC chief justice in the SJC as per its earlier announcement. The SJC is the only constitutional authority that can hold superior court judges accountable.

The plea also requested the court to bar Justice Seth from working until a decision on the petition is announced.  It has nominated the cabinet division, law and justice secretaries and the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) as respondents.