LHC adjourns hearing until November 1
On Monday, a deputy attorney general appeared and sought time to file a reply.
Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed on September 22 had asked for replies from the federal and Punjab governments in this regard.
The judge had earlier remarked that the issue of high treason fell under the jurisdiction of the federal government and that the courts had no direct role in this regard. The judge observed that it would be appropriate to get opinions of government’s law officers on this point.
Advocate Rana Ilamud Din Ghazi moved the first petition in which he leveled 15 allegations against Musharraf. Aziz Ahmad Awan, Tameer-e-Pakistan Party secretary general moved the second petition through his counsel, SN Khawar.
Rana Ghazi stated that the former army chief had assumed power illegally by sabotaging the Constitution, violating his oath and dissolving the elected government without a cogent reason.
He submitted that Musharraf had violated the Constitution when he not only detained the Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, along with his children, but also prevented the Supreme Court judges as well as those of all four high courts from performing their duties.
Ghazi said that the lawyers were beaten up and false criminal cases lodged against some, when the movement for the restoration of judiciary was launched. General (retired) Musharraf also forced Dr Abdul Qadir Khan to accept the blame for selling nuclear technology, which earned the country a bad name, he said. He submitted that during the former president’s rule thousands girls and boys were killed during the Lal Masjid operation.
He added that Musharraf was responsible for the Karsaaz incident in Karachi. He further alleged that Musharraf had ordered the murder of Akbar Bugti and threatened his family.
Musharraf, he said, joined the US war on terror after 9/11 without the nation’s consent and also handed over innocent citizens to America, Ghazi said in his petition. He alleged that Musharraf had also plotted to kill Benazir Bhutto.
The petition also held Musharraf responsible for the abduction of Dr Aafia Siddiqui.
Ghazi requested that the federal government be directed to lodge a case against Musharraf under Article 6 of the constitution, while also asking that the court direct the government to produce Musharraf in front of a court so he could respond to the charges.
The second petitioner, Aziz Ahmad Awan submitted that breaching the oath of an army general, Pervez Musharraf overthrew a constitutionally elected government in October 1999. He said that on November 3, 2007, Musharraf subverted the Constitution again by imposing emergency and issuing the PCO whereof he detained judges of the superior judiciary and disgraced them.
He also treated thousands of lawyers unfairly, putting them behind bars and thrashing them in public.
He requested the court to take cognizance of these offences against Musharraf and direct the Cabinet Division to seek extradition of Musharraf with the help of Interpol as it had done in case of Hamesh Khan. He also asked the court that Musharraf be tried for high treason under Article 6 of the Constitution.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 19th, 2010.
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