The Supreme Court (SC) on Monday ordered the Attorney General to submit a written reply explaining the federal government’s stance regarding former president Pervez Musharraf’s treason case.
A two-member bench of the apex court, comprising Justice Jawwad S Khawaja and Justice Khilji Arif Hussain, was hearing the case against the retired general seeking his trial under Article 6 of the Constitution for imposing a state of emergency in 2007.
The SC had asked the representative of the federal government (attorney general) to present himself in court but he failed to do so.
“We aren’t giving out invitations (which one can deny), we issued a notice to him (attorney general) and he should have come,” the court said.
The Law Ministry was supposed to arrest Musharraf upon his arrival and take action against him according to Article 6, the court said.
“What steps did the ministry take?” the court further questioned the law minister present at the hearing. The minister argued that the Interior Ministry was supposed to take action against Musharraf which further enraged the bench.
The court hence decided to hear a comprehensive reply by the government before proceeding further with the case.
In it’s interim order, the court inquired from the federal government about whether the November 2007 imposition of emergency by Pervez Musharraf was constitutional or unconstitutional.
The court adjourned the hearing till April 17.
Earlier, former president Gen (R) Pervez Musharraf re-submitted to the Supreme Court his reply in a case of high treason being heard against him.
The former military ruler filed his reply through his counsel Ahmed Raza Kasuri after excluding a para about the Chief Justice of Pakistan over which the court had earlier raised its objection and retuned the request.
Musharraf had prayed the court to constitute full court to hear the case and that Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry should not be a part of it since allegations leveled in these petitions have direct relevance with the CJ.
The SC has formed a two-member bench -- comprising of Justice Jawwad S Khawja and Justice Khilji Arif Hussain -- to hear five identical petitions against Musharraf seeking his trial under Article 6 of the Constitution for imposing the state of emergency in 2007 and subverting the constitution.
The former army chief returned last month after nearly four years of self-imposed exile to contest a May 11 general election despite the possibility of arrest on various charges and death threats from the Pakistani Taliban.
His nomination papers were rejected from three out of four constituencies where he filed the papers.