Declaring Special Court illegal: SC prayed to set aside LHC verdict

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) was requested on Monday to set aside the judgment of Lahore High Court (LHC) declaring the formation of the Special Court unconstitutional.

Taufiq Asif, former president of Lahore High Court Bar Association Rawalpindi Bench filed a petition under Article 185(3) of the constitution in the Supreme Court (SC) making former

president Gen (R) Pervez Musharraf, President of Pakistan, FIA etc as respondents.

He prayed to the apex court to set aside the LHC verdict dated January 13, 2020 and declared it as illegal, unlawful, without jurisdiction and without unlawful authority. He contended that the Special Court had proceeded under the direction of the apex court and announced its judgment on December 17, 2019 sentencing the former president to death.

He submitted that the high court could not entertain a petition under Article 199 of the Constitution on the subject on which a petition is already pending before the Supreme Court particularly when effective order has already been passed by apex court on April 1, 2019. "In the presence of the order of the Supreme Court, the high court could not have resumed jurisdiction and initiate proceedings on the same subject", he submitted.