Benazir trial: Sehba’s petition seeking transfer dismissed

Petition dismissed filed by Sehba Musharraf seeking transfer of Benazir Bhutto’s murder case against her husband.

LAHORE:

Chief Justice of the Lahore High Court on Friday dismissed a petition filed by Sehba Musharraf seeking transfer of Benazir Bhutto’s murder case against her husband, General Pervez Musharraf, from Rawalpindi to an anti-terrorism court in Lahore.

Sehba Musharraf through her counsel had pleaded that the Rawalpindi ATC III Judge Shahid Rafiq was prejudiced against her.  She had requested that the case be transferred to an ATC in Lahore. Turning down her application, the CJ ruled that a case could not be transferred on the basis of mere apprehensions. He said that judicial officers were appointed after strict scrutiny of their character. The Rawalpindi anti-terrorism court had ordered confiscation of both movable and immovable property and bank accounts of Pervez Musharraf after he failed to appear before the court and declared him an absconder.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 24^th, 2011.