Musharraf requests to be removed from ECL
Musharraf wants to leave for Dubai to be with his ailing mother.
Musharraf's counsel requested the court to remove the former general from the Exit Control List. PHOTO: REUTERS/FILE
KARACHI:
The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Tuesday issued a notice to the federal law officer, chief provincial law officer and prosecutor general Sindh, asking them to submit their comments on Retired General Pervez Musharraf's application to have his name removed from the Exit Control List (ECL).
A division bench of the SHC, headed by Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, was seized with the hearing of the application filed by the former army chief. Musharraf wants the court to modify its earlier order, which had restrained him from leaving the country without permission of trial courts.
The applicant's counsel AQ Halepota submitted to the court that on March 29, 2013, Musharraf had appeared before the SHC's division bench and requested a 21-day transitory bail to enable him to appear and surrender before the trial courts in the two cases pertaining to the killing of Nawab Akbar Bugti and Benazir Bhutto.
Halepota told the two-judge bench that the court extended his bail for 21 days with the condition that the applicant, Musharraf, would not leave the country without permission from the trial courts, adding that following the court orders Musharraf's name was placed on ECL.
AQ Halepota submitted that the trial courts had confirmed Musharraf's bail in the two cases pertaining Benazir Bhutto and Nawab Akbar Bugti. He said that the former army chief has also been granted bail in the case relating to the murder of Lal Masjid cleric Ghazi Abdul Rasheed during the army operation on the mosque in 2007.
He explained that Musharraf wanted to leave for Dubai to enquire the health of his 95-year-old mother, who is seriously ill and unable to travel to Pakistan. He stated that it was Musharraf's uppermost desire to be with his mother after he had been released on bail in the cases against him.
Placing the former general on ECL was a violation of fundamental rights, Halepota added. Therefore, he pleaded the court to modify its earlier order regarding putting his clients name on ECL.
After hearing initial arguments, the SHC bench issued a notice to the deputy attorney general, advocate general and prosecutor general Sindh to file comments by November 18, 2013.
Meanwhile, a high treason case is still in pending against Musharraf as the Federal Investigation Agency has yet to start its proceedings. The Supreme Court had referred this case to the federal government to initiate the high treason case against the former army chief for twice holding the Constitution in abeyance.
Background
Earlier this May, the then Prime Minister-elect Nawaz Sharif held a meeting with army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, during which they reportedly discussed Musharraf's fate.
PML-N sources had said there was growing sense within the party’s ranks that Musharraf’s presence in the country and his possible trial could distract the new government from pressing issues. If the former president is allowed to leave the country under the pretext of his mother’s ill health or any other reason, the party should not object to it, the sources said.
Reportedly, a message had been circulating within the army that Musharraf would be allowed to leave the country soon. The ‘message’ was conveyed in a bid to pacify growing unease within the army over the trial of its former chief.
The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Tuesday issued a notice to the federal law officer, chief provincial law officer and prosecutor general Sindh, asking them to submit their comments on Retired General Pervez Musharraf's application to have his name removed from the Exit Control List (ECL).
A division bench of the SHC, headed by Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, was seized with the hearing of the application filed by the former army chief. Musharraf wants the court to modify its earlier order, which had restrained him from leaving the country without permission of trial courts.
The applicant's counsel AQ Halepota submitted to the court that on March 29, 2013, Musharraf had appeared before the SHC's division bench and requested a 21-day transitory bail to enable him to appear and surrender before the trial courts in the two cases pertaining to the killing of Nawab Akbar Bugti and Benazir Bhutto.
Halepota told the two-judge bench that the court extended his bail for 21 days with the condition that the applicant, Musharraf, would not leave the country without permission from the trial courts, adding that following the court orders Musharraf's name was placed on ECL.
AQ Halepota submitted that the trial courts had confirmed Musharraf's bail in the two cases pertaining Benazir Bhutto and Nawab Akbar Bugti. He said that the former army chief has also been granted bail in the case relating to the murder of Lal Masjid cleric Ghazi Abdul Rasheed during the army operation on the mosque in 2007.
He explained that Musharraf wanted to leave for Dubai to enquire the health of his 95-year-old mother, who is seriously ill and unable to travel to Pakistan. He stated that it was Musharraf's uppermost desire to be with his mother after he had been released on bail in the cases against him.
Placing the former general on ECL was a violation of fundamental rights, Halepota added. Therefore, he pleaded the court to modify its earlier order regarding putting his clients name on ECL.
After hearing initial arguments, the SHC bench issued a notice to the deputy attorney general, advocate general and prosecutor general Sindh to file comments by November 18, 2013.
Meanwhile, a high treason case is still in pending against Musharraf as the Federal Investigation Agency has yet to start its proceedings. The Supreme Court had referred this case to the federal government to initiate the high treason case against the former army chief for twice holding the Constitution in abeyance.
Background
Earlier this May, the then Prime Minister-elect Nawaz Sharif held a meeting with army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, during which they reportedly discussed Musharraf's fate.
PML-N sources had said there was growing sense within the party’s ranks that Musharraf’s presence in the country and his possible trial could distract the new government from pressing issues. If the former president is allowed to leave the country under the pretext of his mother’s ill health or any other reason, the party should not object to it, the sources said.
Reportedly, a message had been circulating within the army that Musharraf would be allowed to leave the country soon. The ‘message’ was conveyed in a bid to pacify growing unease within the army over the trial of its former chief.