Top court returns Pervez Musharraf petition against treason verdict

F.P. Report

ISLAMABAD: The registrar of the Supreme Court has returned Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf’s appeal against Special Court verdict in the high treason case after raising an objection under Supreme Court Rules 1980 which says a convict has to surrender to the authorities before filing an appeal.

The SC Registrar Office returned the appeal on the grounds that unless the petitioner surrenders himself, his plea cannot be entertained.

Order 23, Rule 8 of the Supreme Court Rules, 1980, empowers the apex court not to accept any petition unless the convict surrenders himself to the authorities.

Meanwhile, Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf’s counsel Barrister Salman Safdar said that an appeal would be filed very soon against the registrar s decision to return the petition.

Musharraf in his petition had pleaded that the verdict should be set aside since the trial was conducted and completed in sheer violation of the Constitution as well as the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), 1898.

The appeal also sought the right of audience before the SC in his physical absence as well as the suspension of the judgment in the interest of justice and fair play.