Bench formed to resume hearing of case against Musharraf

F.P. Report

LAHORE: A bench of special court on Saturday has been formed to resume hearing of treason case against former president Pervez Musharraf.

Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar has approved the letter of law minister, stating names of the bench members.

CJ of Lahore High Court (LHC) Justice Yawar Ali will be head of the bench while Justice Nazar Akbar of Sindh High Court (SHC) will be another member.

Moreover, official notification from the law ministry will be issued soon.

The bench formed in the treason case of former president Pervez Musharraf had dissolved once again after Justice Yahya Afridi rescued himself from the bench over the objections of Musharraf’s lawyer.

Earlier, Special court in Islamabad had ordered interior ministry to take steps for the detention of former president Pervez Musharraf in treason case.

The former military ruler was nominated as the sole accused in the high treason case in December 2013. In March 2014, he was indicted in the case by the special court comprising judges of three different high courts.

The prosecution in the case has presented all the evidence and produced its witnesses before the court. The last prosecution witness testified on Sept 18, 2014.

Last year, the Islamabad High Court ordered the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to re-investigate the case to ascertain role of facilitators in the imposition of emergency in the country on November 3, 2007.

Musharraf, who is facing multiple charges including treason and murder over the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, arrived in Dubai on March 18 for what his lawyers said was urgent medical treatment after a three-year travel ban was lifted.

Musharraf was banned from leaving Pakistan in March 2013 after he returned to the country on an ill-fated mission to contest elections. The former ruler was barred from taking part in the polls and instead faces a barrage of legal cases.

Sindh High Court had lifted Musharraf’s travel ban, but the federal government appealed the verdict. SC upheld the SHC decision and ordered the government to allow Musharraf to travel.