The Supreme Court (SC) upheld on Wednesday the death sentence handed down to late former military dictator Pervez Musharraf by a special court in a high treason case.
A four-member bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa and comprising Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Aminuddin Khan and Justice Athar Minallah took up a set of appeals filed against the Lahore High Court’s (LHC) January 13, 2020 order, declaring unconstitutional the death sentence awarded to Musharraf on December 17, 2019. In its short order, the SC reinstated the death sentence and dismissed the appeals. The court observed that the former general’s legal heirs could not be contacted despite efforts.
He urged the top court to consider both appeals separately. Chief Justice Isa then observed, “In this particular case, the Lahore High Court’s jurisdiction and appeal are distinct issues.” The chief justice expressed the court’s preference to hear Safdar’s arguments first.
Additional Attorney General Aamir Rehman, representing the state, opposed the appeal against the former president’s sentence. When the chief justice sought clarification on whether he was opposing or supporting Musharraf’s appeal, the lawyer affirmed his opposition.
Safdar said in his arguments that there are no instructions from the former military ruler’s family. He said the family was aware of the case, further informing that they were contacted over 10 times since November, last year. “No instructions were given for, or against the case. Hence, I am not representing Pervez Musharraf’s family,” he stated. Justice Mansoor Ali Shah said that the SC had also issued notices to Musharraf directly, to which Safdar added that the SC had also notified him through a newspaper advertisement. “I can provide judicial assistance on two situations,” the counsel stated. At this, Justice Mansoor Ali Shah told Safdar that he could assist the court only on the legal situation.
Appreciating the action taken by the SC, Safdar informed that Musharraf’s heirs do not reside in Pakistan.
The CJP asked Safdar what his reservations were regarding the Lahore High Court. To which the lawyer said that he does not even appear in the Supreme Court before the judge who tried Musharraf in LHC. “I will definitely make some reports in your chamber about this,” Safdar said, only to be discouraged by the CJP, who said that “we do not call anyone in chamber”.
Justice Athar Minallah said that under Article 12, the court’s doors were open against everyone involved in imposing the emergency with Musharraf. To this, Safdar responded that ex-military ruler was not involved in the act alone.
“The then prime minister, law minister, parliament and SC judges were also involved in it with him,” he said, adding that the special court sentenced Musharraf without hearing him. “One man was singled out and punished for his actions against the whole country,” he argued.
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