General (R) Pervaiz Musharaf in hot waters
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*ISLAMABAD: *A special court is all set to resume hearing of a high treason case against former military ruler Pervez Musharraf, which may also be a big test for Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), which is likely to form a government in the Centre in the wake of July 25 general election.
According to the schedule, the Lahore High Court (LHC) Chief Justice Yawar Ali, who is heading the three-judge special tribunal, will visit Islamabad for three days from July 31 to August 2.
The purpose of his visit is to hear the high treason case lodged against the former president soon after the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) came to power in 2013 for his role in the promulgation of emergency on November 3, 2007.
However, the prosecution team has yet to get any information regarding fixation of the case.
The matter was also fixed at the start of this month but the schedule was cancelled because of the LHC top judge’s foreign trip. “We are also hearing that the case is fixed next week, a member of Musharraf legal team also informed about the development,” said the source.
Now it is to be seen whether the upcoming PTI government will pursue the treason case or keep Akram Sheikh, who was appointed as the prosecutor by the PML-N’s government. Sources said Sheikh, who is regarded as being close to the PML-N, may himself withdraw from the case.
The legal experts believe that the treason case is a test for the new government as one of the reasons of civil-military tussle was that the PML-N government had initiated the case against the former army chief.
The PTI chief had vowed in November 2007 that his party would initiate proceedings against Musharraf over his unconstitutional acts but it has also been witnessed that the PTI has remained silent over the issue in the recent past.
