Musharraf’s trial: Court challenge plan in limbo
Ex-president counsel wants to make sure if the judges are unbiased.
Former president Pervez Musharraf. PHOTO: REUTERS
ISLAMABAD:
All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) has put off its plan to challenge the composition of the three-judge special court constituted by the government for trying its leader Pervez Musharraf for treason under Article 6 of the Constitution.
The party through its legal panel had decided to challenge the composition of the special bench on Friday.
The move was delayed to collect information about the three members of the special trial court with regards to their sentiments about Musharraf and their activeness in the anti-Musharraf lawyers’ movement.
“We have decided to challenge the composition of the bench and it would be done once the evidence regarding these judges with regards to the former president is collected, as most of them have anti-Musharraf sentiments and played an active role in the movement against the former president,” said Ahmed Raza Qasuri, one of Musharraf’s lawyers.
He said that the past developments with regards to Musharraf trial show that there is bias against their leader as the government referred the case to the Supreme Court without any Constitutional ground.
For a fair trial, one of the basic requirements under article 10-A of the Constitution is that the judges should be neutral, unbiased and independent, said Qasuri. “It is our constitutional right to challenge the composition of the bench if we feel that we could not receive justice from a certain judge or composition of judges.”
The composition of the court can be challenged at any stage of the trial and that was why APML has delayed it and was collecting background information about the members of the bench, he added.
Earlier, the APML information secretary Asia Ishaq had stated that the former president’s lawyers will challenge the special court before initiating the trial as all the three judges have records to be involved in the anti-Musharraf lawyers’ movement and they would be influence the neutral trial.
On the request of the government, Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry forwarded five names one from each High Courts to the government and selected three of them. These three judges include Faisal Arab of Sindh High Court, Syed Tahira Safdar of Balochistan High Court and Yawar Ali of Lahore High Court.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 24th, 2013.
All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) has put off its plan to challenge the composition of the three-judge special court constituted by the government for trying its leader Pervez Musharraf for treason under Article 6 of the Constitution.
The party through its legal panel had decided to challenge the composition of the special bench on Friday.
The move was delayed to collect information about the three members of the special trial court with regards to their sentiments about Musharraf and their activeness in the anti-Musharraf lawyers’ movement.
“We have decided to challenge the composition of the bench and it would be done once the evidence regarding these judges with regards to the former president is collected, as most of them have anti-Musharraf sentiments and played an active role in the movement against the former president,” said Ahmed Raza Qasuri, one of Musharraf’s lawyers.
He said that the past developments with regards to Musharraf trial show that there is bias against their leader as the government referred the case to the Supreme Court without any Constitutional ground.
For a fair trial, one of the basic requirements under article 10-A of the Constitution is that the judges should be neutral, unbiased and independent, said Qasuri. “It is our constitutional right to challenge the composition of the bench if we feel that we could not receive justice from a certain judge or composition of judges.”
The composition of the court can be challenged at any stage of the trial and that was why APML has delayed it and was collecting background information about the members of the bench, he added.
Earlier, the APML information secretary Asia Ishaq had stated that the former president’s lawyers will challenge the special court before initiating the trial as all the three judges have records to be involved in the anti-Musharraf lawyers’ movement and they would be influence the neutral trial.
On the request of the government, Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry forwarded five names one from each High Courts to the government and selected three of them. These three judges include Faisal Arab of Sindh High Court, Syed Tahira Safdar of Balochistan High Court and Yawar Ali of Lahore High Court.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 24th, 2013.