Judges’ detention case: A dozen lawyers record statements

Blame former president for the emergency imposed in 2007.

ISLAMABAD:

A dozen lawyers recorded their statements before the Shalimar Police Station on Monday for the judge’s detention case.

Twelve practicing lawyers from the twin cities including Advocate Inamur Rahim and Advocate Anwar Dar recorded their statements as witnesses in the judges’ detention case against General (retd) Pervez Muhsarraf. The former dictator imposed emergency on November 3, 2007 and according to the lawyers, the entire country was affected.

The prosecution for the case had failed to submit a complete challan against Musharraf. During the last hearing, the Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) had directed the prosecution to submit the challan on June 6.

Advocate Anwar Dar maintained in his statement that through the act of emergency, all courts in the country were shut down, including the Rawalpindi district court, where he is still practicing. In his statement, he alleged that this all of “these things happened on the direction of Musharraf”.

In his statement, he also claimed that after the emergency was imposed, he was arrested and sent to Civil Lines Police Station and later to Gujranwala Jail, where he was kept behind bars for 20 days. While submitting his detention order, he maintained that, “On November 5, 2007, I went to the district courts and was told that Musharraf has imposed an emergency. When I insisted on entering, I was arrested by the police’’.

The case is based on a First Information Report (FIR) which was registered against the former president on August 11, 2009 by the Secretariat police for detaining over 60 judges including Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry. The lawyers’ statements held Musharraf responsible for imposing emergency. They contended that through the act of November, 2007 judges of the superior courts including Chief Justice Chaudhry were detained with their family members.

Later, the police included the lawyers’ statements in the challan to put them on record.

On April 18, 2013, Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) had rejected Musharraf’s bail plea and ordered his arrest. Later on May 22, the ATC also rejected his bail plea. Since then, this is the first time witnesses have recorded their statements in this case.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 4^th, 2013.