Coup pangs: Govt given last chance to file reply in Ziauddin’s case

LHC tells govt not to sell any of his confiscated properties.

LAHORE:

The Lahore High Court on Monday gave the federal government a last chance to file a reply by December 6 on a petition by former chief of army staff General (r) Ziauddin seeking the declaration of his removal, as part of former president Pervaiz Musharraf’s coup in October 1999 to be ruled illegal.

The court on Monday also issued a notice on application for directions to the government to not sell any of Ziauddin’s confiscated properties.



The petitioner had submitted that on October 12, 1999, he was appointed chief of army staff by then president Rafique Tarar on the recommendations of then prime minister Nawaz Sharif. But soon after, he said, he and Sharif were surrounded at Prime Minister’s House by troops of the 111 Brigade. Lt Gen (r) Mehmud Ahmed and Major Genral (r) Ali Jan Aurakzai “threatened us at gunpoint” demanding that they both resign, he said, but Sharif refused and the two of them were arrested.

The petitioner said that he was put in solitary confinement for two years. During this period, he was dismissed from service, his properties were seized and his right to a pension was denied.

The petitioner said his wife’s properties had also been seized. He said he had appealed to the chief of army staff, but not received any response. His right to a pension had also been denied without giving him a chance to defend himself.

He said that he was illegally removed from the post of army chief.

He asked the court to declare his removal illegal and to reverse all the penalties imposed on him since.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 3^rd, 2013.