LAHORE, Jan 13 (APP):A Lahore High Court (LHC) three-member bench on Monday declared formation of the special court that heard the treason case against former president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf as unconstitutional and quashed the trial.
In its short order, the bench held that the special court was not constituted as per constitutional and legal requirements. It also held that the amendments made to Article 6 of the Constitution could not be implemented retrospectively, besides setting aside Section 9 of the Criminal Law Special Court Amendment Act 1976.
The bench, headed by Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi and comprising Justice Muhammad Ameer Bhatti and Justice Chaudhry Muhammad Masood Jahangir, passed the orders while allowing a petition, filed by Pervez Musharraf challenging the formation and proceedings of the special court in high treason case.
The bench had reserved the verdict on conclusion of arguments by Additional Attorney General Ishtiaq A Khan, earlier in the day. A special court had convicted Pervez Musharraf for high treason on Dec 17 and handed him death penalty on five counts in a 2-1 split decision.
The case was filed by the PML-N government against Gen Pervez Musharraf for suspending the Constitution on November 3, 2007, when he declared an emergency in the country.
