Court martial proceedings: Need for medical care: senior military doctor summoned

Brig (retd) Khan’s counsel says military authorities have not complied with court order.

RAWALPINDI:

The Lahore High Court on Monday summoned a senior military doctor in court, after the lawyer of Brigadier (retd) Ali Khan, who is being accused of planning attacks on the general headquarters (GHQ), pleaded that the retired officer is not being given the required medical care.

Justice Mazhar Iqbal Sindu of the LHC Rawalpindi bench directed Lieutenant Colonel Dr Waqar Paracha of the Armed Forced Institute of Cardiology (AFIC) to appear before the court on March 12.

Khan’s counsel, Advocate Colonel (retd) Inamur Raheem, told The Express Tribune that the court had earlier directed military authorities to allow Khan to be medically examined by a lieutenant general doctor of his choice.

However, he said the military authorities have not yet complied with the court order, adding that only junior doctors have been allowed to examine his client.

The military has been trying the retired officer on charges of having links with banned outfit Hizbut Tahrir (HuT) and planning an attack on the GHQ, with the help of some civilians as well as a pilot of Pakistan Air Force.

Khan has denied all allegations, saying that he is being maligned only after he asked the military brass to fix responsibility for the May 2 raid of US Special Forces in Abbottabad and to keep a check on perks enjoyed by certain officers.

He said that army investigators later charged him with planning to neutralise the top military and civil leadership to establish Khilafat in the country and to carry out an air raid on the GHQ using F-16s.

Khan’s counsel has also pleaded that as per rules governing the Pakistan Army Act he cannot be tried under military court. He noted that a retired army official can only be tried within six months of his superannuation, and that he had retired last April.

However, the investigation officer of the case, Major Khawaja Kashif Saleem, has provided significant evidence to indict Khan, alleging that the retired brigadier along with some HuT members, were trying to neutralise the senior political and military leadership, including the president, prime minister and the chief of army staff.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 13^th, 2012.