The farmhouse residence of General (R) Pervez Musharraf was declared a sub-jail on Friday for 48 hours after the former military ruler surrendered himself to the authorities 24 hours after his bail was cancelled in the judges’ detention case.
The order was issued after Musharraf appeared in the court of judicial magistrate Raja Abbas Shah in Islamabad before departing for his farmhouse on the capital’s outskirts, a sub-jail at present.
The order added clause 780-A pertaining to terrorism in the list of charges against Musharraf.
However, the judicial magistrate’s court on Friday granted ex-military leader Pervez Musharraf two days transit remand after he was arrested over charges related to judges confinement, officials said.
After a brief hearing, the court issued a written order to grant him two-day transit remand.
The order further stated that police showed Musharraf’s arrest on April 18 and requested for two weeks’ judicial remand. The judicial magistrate further said that the police should abide by the Islamabad High Court’s order and include Section 7 of anti-terrorism followed by submitting the report.
During the hearing, petitioner’s counsel, Advocate Mohammad Bilal Mughal, requested the court for a 15-day-long physical remand of the former president.
The court observed that the list of charges against Musharraf in the judges’ detention case entailed terrorism clauses which was why bail could not be granted to the retired general without him surrendering to authorities.
Moreover, police told the court that Musharraf’s life was in danger which was why his farmhouse residence needed to be declared a sub-jail.
Subsequently, the court added clause 780-A to the list of charges against Musharraf and ordered a two-day-long transit remand for the former president. An official at the magistrates court in Islamabad confirmed the order.
Musharraf will now appear before a special anti-terrorist court on April 21.
A spokesman for Musharraf’s All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) party said, “General Musharraf has been sent on a two-day judicial remand and he will stay at his farmhouse.”
APML spokesman Muhammad Amjad said the magistrate had ordered Musharraf to appear before an anti-terrorism court in Rawalpindi after two days.
“Musharraf himself surrendered before the court Friday morning,” Amjad said, denying media reports that he had been arrested prior to going to court.
Furthermore, interim Interior Minister Habib confirmed to the senate that Musharraf had indeed been placed under arrest and proper action would be taken against him.
IHC reacts
Meanwhile, the Islamabad High Court reserved the ruling over the capital city police’s failure to arrest former president Pervez Musharraf immediately after the cancellation of his protective bail on Thursday.
The court had taken a notice of police’s inaction and had summoned Inspector-General Islamabad police Bani Amin Khan over Musharraf’s escape from the court after the IHC had rejected the extension of protective bail granted to the former military ruler in the judges’ detention case.
The court reprimanded Khan over the Islamabad police’s failure to apprehend Musharraf who had managed to transport to his farmhouse in Chak Shehzad, an area on the outskirts of Islamabad, and said in its remarks that the inspector general was not eligible to hold his post.
It is the first time that the judiciary has ordered the arrest of a former army chief of staff.
Musharraf had been on the run after fleeing from the premises of the Islamabad High Court in the wake of the cancellation of his bail on Thursday. Twenty-four hours had passed since Musharraf’s escape from the IHC.
His bail was cancelled in the judges’ detention case by IHC’s Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui on Thursday.