Lahore HC to hear high treason case against Pervez Musharraf on 20 August; ex-army chief refuses to return to Pakistan from UAE

Islamabad: A special court in Pakistan hearing the treason charges against former dictator Pervez Musharraf has scheduled the hearing of the high-profile case on 20 August, according to a media report. The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government had filed the treason case against the ex-army chief General Musharraf over the imposition of extra-constitutional emergency in November 2007.

The bench that will hear the case will be headed by Lahore High Court (LHC) Chief Justice Muhammad Yawar Ali, Geo News reported. Musharraf, 74, who is currently residing in Dubai, has refused to return to Pakistan citing security reasons.  The three-judge special court will hear the high treason case against Pakistan’s president on 20 August, the report said.

Last month, lawyer Akram Sheikh stepped down as the head of the prosecution team tasked by the government in 2013 to prosecute Musharraf. Sheikh was appointed as the head of the prosecution in the case, by the then-PML-N led government.  Musharraf, the former army chief, was indicted in the case in March 2014 after he appeared before the court and rejected all charges. On 18 March, 2016, he left Pakistan for Dubai for medical treatment after his name was removed from the Exit Control List on the orders of the Supreme Court. A few months later, a special court had declared him a proclaimed offender and ordered the confiscation of his property owing to his no-show.  Later, on the orders of the Supreme Court, Musharraf’s passport and identity card were also cancelled since he failed to return to the country despite giving him a last chance.

The legal experts believe that the treason case is a test for the upcoming government of Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), as one of the reasons of civil-military tussle was that the PML-N government had initiated the case against the former army chief. The PTI chief had vowed in November 2007 that his party would initiate proceedings against Musharraf over his unconstitutional acts but it has also been witnessed that the PTI has remained silent over the issue in the recent past.