Travel curbs: Musharraf’s plea referred to Sindh CJ

Asked to constitute bench comprising the same judges who had passed the travel restrictions order earlier.

KARACHI:

Sindh High Court (SHC) Chief Justice Maqbool Baqar has been requested to constitute a division bench to review an earlier court order that had previously barred former army chief Pervez Musharraf from travelling overseas.

The March 29 order of the SHC was passed by a bench comprising Justice Sajjad Ali Shah and Justice Justice Naimatullah Phulpoto.

The division bench referred to the CJ Baqar a miscellaneous application seeking review of the order through which Musharraf was ordered “not to leave the country without permission of the concerned trial courts.”

On Monday, the matter came for hearing before the bench comprising Justice Sajjad Ali Shah and Justice Salahuddin Panhwar. The bench therefore referred the matter to the SHC CJ to constitute a bench comprising Justice Shah and Phulpoto to hear and decide the review application.

Musharraf’s lawyer, AQ Halepota, informed the bench that on March 29, Musharraf appeared before the SHC division bench and requested for a 21-day transitory bail, which was granted before his arrival from Dubai, for enabling him to appear and surrender before the trial courts in two separate cases of the killings of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and Baloch leader Nawab Akbar Bugti.

While the judges extended his bail for 21 days, the former president was also ordered not to leave the country without permission from the trial courts. Subsequent to this order, the interior ministry had placed his name on the exit control list, Halepota added.

Halepota submitted that the trial courts have confirmed Musharraf’s bail in the two cases and the former president was also granted bail in the case relating to the death of Lal Masjid cleric Ghazi Abdul Rasheed during the army operation in 2007.

He said Musharraf wanted to leave for Dubai to enquire about the health of his 95-year-old mother who is seriously ill. It was Musharraf’s desire to be with his mother after he had been released on bail, maintained Halepota. The counsel said that placing the former president’s name on the ECL was a violation of fundamental rights. Therefore, he pleaded the court to change its earlier order.

On the last date of hearing, the interior ministry had opposed the request, arguing that the former president had not challenged the SHC’s order in question, which has now become final and cannot be challenged. According to the interior ministry Pervez Musharraf’s name was placed on the ECL after fulfilling all legal requirements.

In another related case, a petitioner had gone to the Sindh High Court to requesting that the name of the former army general be kept on the ECL until the decision of the high treason case against him under Article 6 of the Constitution was given.

Moulvi Iqbal Haider had gone to the court to seek a direction for the federal government to keep former army chief’s name on the ECL until the decision of high treason case against him.

The SHC bench, headed by Justice Ghulam Sarwar Korai, however abstained itself from passing any order. It ordered the petitioner to first produce the SC’s order regarding launching high treason proceedings against Pervez Musharraf, instead.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 26^th, 2013.