LAHORE: A special court will hear the high treason case against former army chief and president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf on August 20.
The bench that will hear the case will be headed by Lahore High Court (LHC) Chief Justice Muhammad Yawar Ali.
Also on the bench is Balochistan High Court's (BHC) Justice Tahira Safdar — recently appointed as the province's chief justice — and Sindh High Court’s (SHC) Justice Nazar Akbar.
The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government had filed the treason case against Musharraf over the president's imposition of extra-constitutional emergency in November 2007.
Last month, head of the prosecution, Mohammad Akram Sheikh, tendered his resignation. In his resignation letter sent to the interior secretary, Sheikh expressed his inability to proceed with the case after the imminent change of government at the centre.
Sheikh was appointed as the head of the prosecution in the case in November 2013, by the then-PML-N led government.
The former army chief was indicted in the case in March 2014 after he appeared before the court and rejected all charges.
On March 18, 2016, the former president 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, the special court had declared him a proclaimed offender and ordered the confiscation of his property owing to his no-show.
Later, on orders of the Supreme Court, Musharraf's passport and identity card were also cancelled since he failed to return to the country despite a last chance.
APP