ISLAMABAD - The government has decided to challenge the medical report of former Army chief Gen. (retd) Pervez Musharraf presented in the Special Court and in this connection special prosecutor Akram Sheikh would likely to move an application for establishment of an ‘independent medical commission’ to verify the contents of the report.
Sources in the government informed The Nation on Tuesday that the prosecution would raise a number of questions on the medical report furnished in the court by the Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology (AFIC) wherein the former general was shown suffering from well over half a dozen diseases including heart ailment.
The sources informed that besides demanding counter verification of the medical report from an independent medical commission the prosecution would also seek the technical report whether the patient would be requiring to be moved abroad for treatment of these diseases or the medical facilities in the country have equally good and quality treatment of these diseases.
The sources further said that it was the consensus view of the government that it would not cave in to any internal and external pressure in the Musharraf case and let the matter be settled through the proper legal and constitutional process.
The sources said that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in his closed door meetings with his close political aides made it clear that the government should stay neutral in the whole saga and let the court take the matter to its logical end. He further said that, as he was the victim of October 1999 coup, so he was more cautiously keeping himself aloof from the case to avoid giving the impression of some sort of settling the personal vendetta against the former commando general, a senior party leader and member of Federal Cabinet quoted him as saying in his interaction with party colleagues.
The sources further said that the PM had asked the party leaders and his close aides to be careful while commenting on the high treason case to avoid giving the impression of victimisation of the former Army chief.
The sources in government said that they wanted to see the law of the land take its natural course and even if the special court allows the former Army chief to get abroad for treatment they would not resist or oppose it.
When asked the sources made it loud and clear that no secret deal to send Musharraf abroad is in the offing nor the PML-N government would cave in to any internal or external pressure to let Musharraf out of the country at any pretext. 
It was the principled stand of the government that the court would be the authority in the case and Musharraf would have to move the court to get any relief.