Former president and army chief General (r) Pervez Musharraf was granted six days of extension on his temporary bail, which will last till April 18 now, by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) in the judges’ detention case, Friday morning.
Musharraf had earlier been granted a 15-day bail in the case from the Sindh High Court (SHC) before his arrival to Pakistan on 24th March, 2013.
In 2007, the then president Musharraf had suspended the constitution and implemented a state of emergency in the country and had sought a forced resignation from Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Iftikhar Chudhary when the latter did not become party to his decision. When part of the country’s superior judiciary refused to become allies to Musharraf’s plans, he put several judges under house arrest.
A petition had been filed against the former president for detaining several superior judges in violation of the constitution. With his bail about to expire, he had moved the IHC, seeking extension.
The former military dictator faces a plethora of cases against him apart from the judges’ detention case, including the Lal Masjid massacre, the murder of Akbar Khan Bugti, his alleged role in Benazir Bhutto’s assassination and a treason case under Article 6 of the constitution.
Musharraf was accompanied to the court on Friday under fool-proof security in a bullet-proof vehicle. The court building was full of security personnel including army commandoes and police officials. Musharraf was made to wait outside the court in his vehicle as the judges took a tea break before he was allowed to appear before the bench to present arguments seeking an extension in his bail.
Following the IHC’s decision to grant the former president an extension in bail, Rawalpindi High Court Bar Association President Sheikh Ahsanuddin while talking to journalists outside the court highly criticised the protocol the ex-army chief was enjoying. “A person who violated the constitution is being given protocol greater than that accorded by the prime minister even. This is an unnecessary and uncalled for burden on the national exchequer. I appeal to the caretaker government to suspend all privileges being utilised by him.” He said Musharraf had betrayed the national and disrespected rule of law and did not deserve any leniency. He also apologised to media personnel who had to face difficulties in entering the building owing to tight security arrangements that were in place.