Attempt on Musharraf: SC seeks records of military court proceedings

Bench seeks Lahore High Court’s decision in case, asks petitioner's reply to submit a written reply.

ISLAMABAD:

The Supreme Court on Thursday sought a full report from the defence ministry in connection with the petition by the two accused involved in the attack on former president Pervez Musharraf.

A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry accepted a petition filed by Advocate Hashmat Habib on behalf of Rana Naveed and Ameer Sohail – both allegedly involved in the attack carried out on Musharraf – and asked the defence ministry to present the record of the military courts’ decisions.

In his petition, Habib challenged the court martial of civilians under the army act and argued how a military sentence could be awarded without providing civilians ample opportunity for defending them. He also argued that there was no evidence against the accused.

Habib, during the proceedings, clarified that Sohail’s computerised national identity card (CNIC) was unavailable due to him being a minor. He also pointed out that his name was misspelled as Amir Sohail by the military court.

The bench, in addition to seeking the full record of the military court’s proceedings and Lahore High Court’s decision in this case, asked Habib to submit a written reply.

The court adjourned the case’s hearing for two weeks.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 25^th, 2012.