High treason case against Pervez Musharraf: Formation of special court unconstitutional, says LHC

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday issued a detailed verdict regarding declaring the formation of a special court to hear a high treason case against former military ruler Pervez Musharraf as unconstitutional.

The 36-page detailed verdict was authored by the head of a three-member bench Justice Syed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi.

Through a short order on January 13, the bench comprising Justice Syed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, Justice Muhammad Ameer Bhatti and Justice Chaudhry Masood Jahangir had set aside all proceedings starting from filing of complaint, formation of a special court, trial in absentia and conclusion of the trial.

The court in its verdict said Article 6(2) of the Constitution could not be enforced from the past as Article 12 of the Constitution provides protection against retrospective punishment. Article 6 of the Constitution was modified through the 18th Amendment in 2010, while the case against Musharraf concerned events that happened prior to amendment in 2007.

The court observed that approval was not sought from federal cabinet in terms of Article 90(1) of the Constitution before filing compliant against Musharraf.

The bench expunged clause 9 of the Criminal Law Special Court (Amendment) Act 1976 as in insistence with Article 8 which says “Laws inconsistent with or in derogation of fundamental rights will be void”.

Musharraf had been sentenced to death by a special court on December 17, 2019, after six years of hearing the case, which was filed against him by the PML-N government after it assumed office in 2013.