Former president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf. PHOTO:AFP
All eyes will once again be on the entrance door of the special court constituted to try General (retd) Pervez Musharraf for high treason, as the former army chief is said to be making the much-awaited appearance before the three-member bench on February 7.
Commenting on the case, senior lawyer Barrister Ali Gohar on Tuesday told The Express Tribune that the court can issue a non-bailable arrest warrant for Musharraf if he fails to appear on Friday. He added that the court can also order the Islamabad police to arrest him on the basis that it is satisfied that the accused is avoiding appearance consciously.
The Islamabad police chief said that Musharraf had assured him of his court appearance when he was served the bailable warrant, but added that ‘Musharraf is now a free man’ and that the police cannot arrest him without the court orders.
Musharraf challenges special court powers in SC
In a related development, the former army chief on Tuesday challenged the special court’s January 31 order regarding the issuance of a bailable warrant, along with its January 10 order on the applicability of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) in the apex court.
The first petition stated that Musharraf’s counsels had already submitted that their client is not liable to be produced till the decision of his different applications regarding the constitution of the trial court as well as appointment of prosecutor are made.
It also objected that the January 31 order was not announced in the open court and was an illegal decision; therefore the petitioner or any state agency is not bound to obey it.
In the second petition Musharraf objected that judgment of the learned judges of various high courts, acting as special court, inter alia, sought for themselves power and authority which was conferred by the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 1976.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 5th, 2014.
COMMENTS (7)
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@sabi:
Decent man? A very rare commodity!
Rex Minor
People of Pakistan are so fed up, let Musharraf get free, let him hold public meeting and rallies.... these so called politicians will look for a place to hide. People still love Musharraf, my own personal observation as I always check with street hawkers, fruit & vegetables sellers, rickshaw drivers, security guards and everyone praise Musharraf.
Few elements afraid of loosing constant income in kickbacks want to bar Musharraf from politics forever.
The judges are discriminating. The hearing on whose judgement he is being charged was in a closed court room and mush or his lawyer was not present. Second, saying that time has barred to appeal against it is wrong too. Nawaz sharif's case was re opened after 9 years. In some situations an appeal is admissible irrespective of time frame. Musharruf should boycott the court. He can go as per law but not participate.
Go to court face the charges and fight like a decent man Its your attitude which will relieve you or sink you.Pakistan first!
Aren't commandos trained to scale high walls and run many kilometres at a stretch?