The hearing of the Judges Detention Case and the Anti Terrorism Case (ATC) on Saturday was adjourned till September 10 due to the absence of General (retd) Pervez Musharraf’s lawyers.
ATC Judge Attique-ur-Rehman conducted the case’s short hearing at Musharraf’s farm house, which was declared a sub-jail by the authorities concerned.
In the case, Musharraf faces charges of detaining judges and of terrorism which are based on an FIR registered against him in 2009 in the Secretariat Police Station for confining judges of the superior court in 2007 after imposing emergency in the country.
During the last hearing, the court issued notices to 29 witnesses including 24 lawyers and five government officials to appear before the court. Following the order, some of the witnesses were presented before the court but they could not record their statements due to the absence of Musharraf’s lawyers.
Musharraf was initially booked under the Criminal Procedure Code’s Section 344 which is a bail-able offence, however, a couple of month back on the directions of the Islamabad High Court, the police added the Anti Terrorism Act’s Section 7.
Additionally, the role of the FIR’s main complainant, Advocate Aslam Guman, was also dubious as he backtracked from the case a few months ago, saying that he would not pursue the case any further for greater national interest. However, last month he came up with a new statement saying that Musharraf’s aides had forced him to withdraw the case. He is currently in London under self-imposed exile.
