LAHORE – The Lahore High Court on Thursday directed the Attorney General of Pakistan (AGP) to appear on February 8 over petitions seeking extradition of former president Pervez Musharraf and registration of a high treason case against him.
On Thursday, Deputy Attorney General Tanveer Hashimi sought more time to obtain instructions from the quarters concerned. However, the counsel for the petitioners opposed the official request terming it ‘delaying tactics) the proceedings in the case.
On this, Justice Sh Azmat Saeed also expressed displeasure and observed that numerous adjournments had already been sought by the DAG which was regrettable. The judge observed that on the next hearing either the Attorney General of Pakistan shall himself appear or depute any DAG with full instructions to argue the case. The court adjourned until February 8.
The court passed the order on two petitions filed by Ilamuddin Ghazi Advocate and Aziz Ahmad Awan. The petitioners have levelled 15 allegations against the Musharraf. The lawyer alleged that in 1999 the then Army chief dissolved an elected parliament unconstitutionally, undermined judiciary, kept Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and his family under house arrest.
Another charge against Musharraf is a military offensive on a religious seminary at Lal Masjid in Islamabad.
– reserves judgment on MPs’ petitions: A full bench of Lahore High Court on Thursday reserved judgment on dozens of writ petitions filed by 26 MNAs and MPAs challenging their disqualification. Earlier, the counsels for petitioners and Deputy Attorney General Muhammad Ashraf concluded their arguments. The bench reserved judgment on the matter after hearing all parties to the matter.
The deputy attorney general in his arguments said after the abolition of graduation condition these petitions had become ineffective. He further said the Supreme Court had already held that the Election Commission was the first appropriate forum for such matters. The MNAs and MPAs in their petitions raised the issue that under Article 225 of the Constitution their qualification could be questioned only through an election petition within a stipulated time.
But in the instant cases their eligibility had been challenged through writ petitions. They pointed out that the courts have entertained the petition against them in violation of the Constitution. The MNAs and MPAs facing eligibility question include Farooq Yousaf Ghurki, Mian Javed Latif, Malik Riaz, Safdar Hussain Gill, Mina Muhammad Azam Chaila, Raza Zahid Hussain, Liaquat Ali Bhatti, Khalid Hussain and Shafiq Gujjar.
The full-bench judgment will decide the basic fact of law whether the election petitions in hand should be heard by the LHC’s regular bench or an election tribunal. The court, if accepts the arguments of the legislators, will return the petitions to the election tribunal comprising an LHC judge or the Election Commission for hearing.
After the tribunal’s decision they can file an appeal in the LHC.
