SC asks Musharraf to hand himself over to the law

Hearing a plea seeking orders for the registration of a second FIR against former president Gen (r) Pervez Musharraf and 12 others in the Benazir Bhutto assassination case, the Supreme Court on Monday asked the former military dictator to hand himself over to the law for being an absconder. A three-member bench of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Khilji Arif Hussain and Justice Tariq Parvez also directed the respondents to positively file their replies by April 16. At the onset of hearing, Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) prosecutor Chaudhry Azhar told the court that despite having received the summons, Musharraf did not furnish a reply. He said Musharraf’s arrest warrants were issued and he was declared absconder by an anti-terrorism court due to his continuous absence, adding that the FIA had approached Interpol for the arrest of Musharraf. Justice Tariq Parvez then noted that the apex court had also issued summons of Musharraf on FIA’s application, which according to reports had already been received by him.