ISLAMABAD - The dark clouds are likely to keep prevailing over former dictator Pervez Musharraf’s fate as he may have to face another case for the murder of former cleric of Lal Masjid Ghazi Abdur Rasheed and his mother Sahiba Khatoon after the Islamabad High Court (IHC) Friday directed Islamabad police to record the statement of Ghazi’s son and register a case against the former military ruler if there is a cognisable offence.
In a petition seeking registration of murder case against Musharraf, Justice Noor-ul-Haq N Qureshi ordered Islamabad police to record the statement of the petitioner Haroon Rashid, son of late Ghazi Abdul Rashid, and register first information report (FIR) as per law if there is a cognisable offence.
Advocate Ilyas Siddiqui representing Pervez Musharraf, contended before the court that there was no evidence that Musharraf directly ordered the Lal Masjid operation and if the petitioner has got such evidence, he may produce it before the court. He further argued that the petitioner had not cited then cabinet, federal ministers and prime minister as respondents in his petition. Siddiqui added that Lal masjid operation was carried out with the approval of cabinet and if Musharraf had done anything wrong, the Parliament of that time could have done his impeachment under article 47 of the Constitution.
The petitioner Haroon through his counsel Tariq Asad Advocate maintained before the court that his father namely Ghazi Abdul Rashid and grandmother Sahiba had been killed in the military operation having been ordered by Musharraf.
He had moved the court through his counsel M Tariq Asad Advocate and made Station House Officer (SHO) Police Station Aabpara and General (Retd) Pervez Musharraf as respondents.
The petitioner stated that he submitted several applications before the SHO Aabpara to register FIR but the same were refused. “Now from the report of Commission made by the orders of Supreme Court, it is disclosed that the so-called military operation was carried out on the orders of Musharraf,” he added.
He continued that in Operation Silence a large number of innocent persons including boys and girls were killed against the law of the land and a large number of students became missing during the operation.
Haroon stated that now the evidence has been produced before the fact-finding commission, about 400 witnesses appeared and recorded their statements, and it was alleged that then president Musharraf had ordered military operation while Musharraf has at various occasions confessed that 94 persons were killed in Lal Masjid and Jamia Hafsa during the operation.
“In view of the evidence mentioned above the legal heirs of the innocent victims had been filling applications time to time and requesting to register criminal cases against the responsible persons but their requests were not acceded to,” he maintained. The petitioner informed that he filed a petition under Section 22-A of CrPC before the learned Justice of Peace who dismissed the petition without assigning any reason. He argued that learned Justice of Peace passed the impugned order in a slipshod manner without appreciating the facts and law involved in the matter.
He added that Musharraf committed atrocities and by misuse of his powers managed to murder innocent people including his father Ghazi Abdul Rashid and his grandmother Sahib Khatoon. “They were murdered mercilessly and in a brutal and callous manner,” Haroon further added.
The petitioner said that the law required that Musharraf should be punished for his misdeeds of killing innocent people and this is only possible if criminal case be registered against him.
He contended that the learned additional and sessions judge had not assigned a single reason in his impugned order as to why he did not order for the registration of the case. “Instead what he observed that the application under Section 22-A CrPC has been filed just in order to gain cheap advertisement,” he further said and added, “It is absolutely a callous attitude to observe that petitioner who lost his father, grandmother, first cousins and many others who were dear and near to him would file an application to gain cheap advertisement.”
Therefore, he prayed in his petition that the court may direct SHO Aabpara to register criminal case of murder against Prevez Musharraf in accordance with law.
The court after issuing aforementioned directions disposed of the petition.