The Supreme Court has said that General Pervez Musharraf (Retd), former army chief and president, will have to surrender to the authorities for filing an appeal against the special court judgment.
The SC Registrar office order stated; "The instant criminal appeal is not entertainable in terms of Order XXIII, Rule 8 of Supreme Court Rules, 1980 and the law laid down by the august court in [various] judgments."
The SC Registrar office returned the appeal for not being entertainable. However, he stated that the appeal can be filed against his order under Rule 3 of Order of Supreme Court Rules, 1980, within 30 days.
The former army chief was convicted under Article 6 of Constitution and was punished under Section 2 of High Treason (Punishment) Act, 1973 to death through the Special Court judgment dated 17-12-2019. The order noted; "Appellant has not yet surrendered himself in compliance with the judgment and filed criminal miscellaneous application seeking exemption from surrender on the ground of his ailment."
Pervez Musharraf on January 16 filed the criminal appeal through Barrister Salman Safdar under section 12(3) of the Criminal Law Amendment (Special Court) Act, 1976 read with Article 10-A of the Constitution for setting aside the order of Special Court dated 17.12.2019.
He submitted that since the Special Court proceeded in his absence and had also convicted him in his absence, therefore he qualifies to be heard at appeal in his absence.
Special Court presided over by Chief Justice of the Peshawar High Court (PHC) Waqar Ahmed Seth and comprising Justice Nazar Akbar of the Sindh High Court (SHC) and Justice Shahid Karim of the Lahore High Court (LHC) on December 17, 2019 with 2:1 handed down death sentence to Pervez Musharraf.
Musharraf was accused of suspending and abrogating the Constitution on 3rd November, 2007, and promulgating emergency and Provisional Constitution Order (PCO) in the country.
The ex-COAS stated that he was being tried for an alleged constitutional crime in an entirely unconstitutional manner. He has been denied the right to a fair trial, squarely against Article 10-A of the Constitution. Even his counsel was not allowed to assist the Special Court in a case carrying capital punishment.
Comments
Comments are closed.