Govt constitutes special court to hear Musharraf high treason trial

ISLAMABAD: The government has formed a special court to hear former president General (Retd) Pervez Musharraf's high treason trial under Article 6 of Constitution, Geo News reported.

According to Prime Minister House, the government has approved a three-member bench, which will be headed by Sindh High Court's Justice Faisal Arab.

Balochistan High Court's Justice Syde Tahira Safdar and Lahore High Court's Justice Yawar Ali are the other two members of the bench.

Earlier, the Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry had asked the five high courts to nominate one judge each, after the government requested the Supreme Court to nominate three judges of the higher judiciary for the special court to initiate the high treason trial of former president under Article 6 for subverting the Constitution while imposing the emergency and Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO) on November 3, 2007.

The government had announced its plans on Sunday regarding trying Musharraf for treason. Musharraf will be the first army chief tried for treason in a country that has experienced three military coups.

Musharraf's spokesman lashed out at the government, saying it was an attempt to malign the military.

The former president seized power in a coup in 1999 and ruled for almost a decade until he was forced to step down in 2008.