Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Former president General (r) Pervez Musharraf is ready to return to the country to face the murder case of Abdul Rasheed Ghazi. However, only if his physicians allow him to travel and if foolproof security is provided to him, this was said by counsel for the former president, Advocate Akhtar Shah said on Monday.

On Monday, Additional District and Sessions judge Pervaiz-ul Qadir Memon resumed the hearing on an application filed by Haroon Rasheed seeking directives for the Interior Ministry to issue red warrants for Musharraf’s arrest and his subsequent extradition to Pakistan through Interpol.

During the hearing, while filing a new application, Akhtar Shah told the court that Musharraf was not reluctant to return to the country, rather his return depended on the advice of his physicians and security measures put in place for him. He then requested the court to grant him some time for his preparation of the case.

The court adjourned the hearing until February 8th by giving remarks that Musharraf’s property had been confiscated while his counsel had filed a new application, adding that the application would now be discussed along with the issuance of Musharraf’s red warrants in the next hearing.

Talking to Daily Times, Akhtar Shah said that he had asserted in the application that the court order to declare Musharraf an absconder in Abdul Rasheed Ghazi murder case was unlawful and the court should recall it.

“According to Article 245(1) of the constitution, the armed forces shall, under the directions of the federal government, defend Pakistan against external aggression or threat of war, and, subject to law, act in aid of civil power when called upon to do so. The validity of any direction issued by the federal government under clause (1) shall not be called in question in any court,” he said.

Akhtar Shah said that Musharraf did not initiate the action against Lal Masjid on his own but it was the civil administration that called upon the army to avert the situation; therefore, it was illegitimate and unconstitutional to try him in court.

He told Daily Times that the application filed against Musharraf was baseless and out of place; the charge presented before the court was incomplete. “In light of these facts, the case has no legal grounds so the application (against the former president) should have been discarded by the SHO or the local magistrate at once.”

“The law is crystal clear about Abdul Rasheed Ghazi murder case but I wonder why justice is always delayed and denied often in this country despite a comprehensive law,” Akhtar Shah concluded.

To a question regarding a video that went viral on social media in which the former president was seen dancing, he said that Musharraf was not dancing like a young man or performing a “Khattak dance”; rather he was moving like an ailing person.