1999 coup: Commission demanded to investigate ‘hijacking case’

Supreme Court requested to ascertain facts, order prosecution.

LAHORE:

A petition seeking a judicial inquiry into the alleged hijacking of a plane by the then prime minister Nawaz Sharif in 1999, that the then army chief Pervez Musharraf was travelling in, was filed at the Supreme Court registry here on Friday.

Najma Ahmad, a resident of Johar Town, filed the petition. She has named Lt Col Attiquzaman, Lt General Usmani, Major Zafarullah Khan, Lt General Muhammad Aziz, Lt General Mahmood Ahmad and Lt General Nasir Ahmad among respondents.

The petitioner submitted that Musharraf went to Sri Lanka on October 10, 1999, to attend the Golden Jubilee Ceremony of the Armed Forces of Sri Lanka, on the invitation of the Sri Lankan chief of army staff. On October 12, the PIA flight PK-805 set to fly from Colombo, Sri Lanka, to Karachi at 1:20pm, landed in Karachi at 8:45pm. Earlier that day, Sharif had dismissed Musharraf as COAS at around 10am and appointed Gen Ziaud Din in his stead. Musharraf was informed about his dismissal while on the plane, but refused to accept the prime minister’s orders. By the time his plane landed, Sharif had been arrested and detained at the prime minister’s house, Ahmad said.



Musharraf registered a hijacking complaint against Sharif 29 days after the incident, accusing him of hijacking the plane he was on.

The way Sharif’s government was toppled was against national interest and unconstitutional, she said.

The respondents in the case had committed acts amounting to high treason, Ahmad said.

As PM, Sharif had the authority to depose Musharraf. Ahmad prayed the court to order a judicial commission to hold an inquiry into the incident and bring those responsible to book.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 25^th, 2013.