Interior ministry asks IHC to halt Musharraf verdict

ISLAMABAD: The interior ministry on Monday requested the Islamabad High Court (IHC) to stop a special court from announcing its reserved verdict in a high treason case against former president Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf.

In its petition, the interior ministry requested that the special court’s judgment be stopped until a new prosecution team was formed. It also appealed to the IHC to annul the announcement of the special court’s verdict.

The full bench of the IHC comprising Chief Justice Athar Minallah, Justice Amir Farooq and Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani would hear the interior ministry’s application today.

Separately, former president Musharraf filed an application in the Lahore High Court on Monday, seeking suspension of the special court’s reserved verdict until his lawyer was given the opportunity to submit his stance.

A single bench of the LHC, comprising Justice Syed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, sought arguments on maintainability of the petition, asking Musharraf’s counsel to advance arguments on Wednesday that how it could hear the matter, if proceedings were pending before the Supreme Court against Musharraf.

“Musharraf is a resident of Islamabad then how the LHC can hear the matter,” it added.In the petition filed through senior lawyer Khawaja Ahmad Tariq Rahim, Gen (retd) Musharraf challenged the judgment reserved by a special court in the high treason case against him and sought suspension of his trial in absentia.

The special court had reserved its verdict on November 19, saying it will be announced on November 28.Musharraf was indicted in the case in March 2014 for suspending the Constitution in 2007. In 2016, he left for Dubai to seek medical treatment and did not return since then.

In October, the government had sacked the entire prosecution team formed by the previous Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government. On October 24, the interior ministry de-notified the prosecution and constitutional teams, as well as a research assistant working on the high treason case against Musharraf. The notification said the step was taken under Section 4-A of the Central Law Officers Ordinance, 1970, which deals with appointments made by the President. It said the services of the teams had been “disengaged”.