Musharraf treason case: LHC order against formation of special court challenged in SC

Petition by Sindh High Court Bar Association states LHC did not examine the facts and law properly in the Musharraf treason case

By Web Desk
February 25, 2020
Former president Pervez Musharraf. Photo: File

ISLAMABAD: The Sindh High Court Bar Association (SHCBA) has challenged the Lahore High Court’s decision in Pervez Musharraf treason case pleading that the formation of special court was lawful, reported Geo News.

The SHCBA, in its petition, requested the Supreme Court to reinstate the decision to award Musharraf the death penalty, and stated that the high court did not have any authority to hear the petition against the constitution special court.

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The petition further argued that the LHC did not examine the facts and law properly, neither did the high court give any importance to the evidence presented by the prosecution.

Last month, the LHC, in its decision, had termed the formation of a special court hearing the Musharraf treason case as unconstitutional, and ruled that the amended Article 6 of the Constitution, under which Musharraf had been found guilty, could not be applied in the case 'ex post facto' (retrospectively).

Article 6 of the Constitution was modified through the 18th Amendment in 2010, while the case against Musharraf concerned events that happened before that.

The decision came in response to a petition filed by Musharraf challenging the formation of the special court for the high treason case against him.

Musharraf had been handed the death penalty in December last year after being found guilty on five counts in a 2-1 majority verdict.

Subsequently, Musharraf had approached the LHC with three petitions which were filed in January.

The former president had challenged not only the conviction but also the formation of the special court that handed him the death penalty for high treason, as well as the complaint filed against him by the government of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif that resulted in the trial.

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