Court cannot proceed against Ayub, Yahya, Zia: LHC

RECORDER REPORT

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday denied declaring three former army chiefs Ayub Khan, Yahya Khan and Ziaul Haq as traitors as they are now dead.

Chief Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed while hearing a writ petition seeking directions to declare all the former dictators as traitors for abrogating the constitution observed the court could not proceed against them because they have passed away.

The petitioner prayed to declare them traitors and their accomplice politicians permanently disqualified from holding public offices.

The court, however, refused to initiate proceedings against Pervez Musharraf, as he is being tried in a Rawalpindi court and adjourned the hearing of the petition for an indefinite period.

A bar member Rana Ilamuddin Ghazi contended in his petition that Iskandar Mirza, Yahya Khan, Ayub Khan, Ziaul Haq and Pervez Musharraf abrogated the Constitution and usurped people's fundamental rights. He said that politicians also played a role of second fiddle to dictators to help them prolong their rule.