The Supreme Court on Saturday returned former president Pervez Musharraf’s full bench request citing technical objections.
Musharraf’s lawyer Ahmed Raza Kasuri had requested for a full bench excluding Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry for the hearing of the alleged treason case.
Dictating the terms of his treason trial, former president General (r) Pervez Musharraf on Saturday filed reply in the Supreme Court (SC) demanding that a full court be constituted to hear his case.
According to details, a six-page reply was filed by Musharraf’s counsel Ahmad Raza Qasuri. Several points were also raised in the reply.
Musharraf, in his reply, demanded that the chief justice (CJ) should not be a part of the full-court bench as the allegations leveled in these petitions had direct relevance with the CJ and if the CJ tried his case, his impartiality would be put to question.
Furthermore, Musharraf blasted all other petitions filed against him, saying that they had no direct relevance with him.
If the petitioners had any solid evidence against him, Musharraf challenged, they should be presented to the court.
Moreover, he said that if the court wanted to declare the petitions maintainable then it should constitute full court.
Musharraf’s reply also said these petitions are not maintainable since they had been filed after a long time lapse. He alleged that the petitions were based on mala fide intent and should be struck down.
The chief justice was to hear the case as head of the bench. However, he removed himself from bench hours before the Supreme Court was to take up a petition seeking high treason proceedings against the former military on April 8.
A two-member bench comprising Justice Jawwad S Khawja and Justice Khilji Arif Hussain was formed to hear the petition filed by president of the Rawalpindi chapter of the Lahore High Court Bar Association, Taufiq Asif.
Five identical petitions have been filed against Musharraf seeking his trial for high treason and subversion of the constitution.
Interior Ministry officials confirmed that Musharraf’s name had been placed on the Exit Control List and that a circular had been issued to all exit points, including airports.