Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: The federal interior ministry and former president Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf both submitted pleas in the Islamabad High Court on Monday, requesting it to stop the special court from announcing its reserved verdict in the high treason case against the former army chief.

A larger bench of the high court, head by IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah and comprising Justice Amir Farooq and Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kiyani, has fixed the petition for hearing on Tuesday.

In the petition filed through its secretary today, the interior ministry has stated that the special court’s decision to reserve its verdict in the case is in violation of the Constitution because it was issued without giving the ministry the opportunity to notify a new prosecution team in the case and because the judgment is set to be passed without hearing the prosecution during the trial.

Musharraf’s lawyer, Khwaja Ahmed Tariq Rahim was asked how Lahore High Court (LHC)would take Musharaf’s plea when he is a resident of Islamabad and the how can the proceedings take place in LHC when there are procedures against Musharraf continuous in the Supreme Court?

On November 19, a special court headed by Peshawar High Court Chief Justice Waqar Ahmed Seth concluded proceedings in the high treason case against former military ruler Pervez Musharraf for declaring a state of emergency on Nov 3, 2007, that lasted till the mid of December during which the Constitution remained suspended.