Special court formed to resume hearing of Musharraf treason case

A special court was formed on Saturday to resume hearings in the high-treason trial against former president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf.

According to sources, the bench will be headed by Lahore High Court Chief Justice Yawar Ali and will include Sindh High Court’s Justice Nazar Akbar.

Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nasir has approved the names of the new special court bench members, sources added. The Law Ministry will issue a notification in this regard.

On March 29, the special court bench conducting the high-treason trial against the former president was abolished after Justice Yahya Afridi, who headed the bench, recused himself from hearing the case.

Justice Afridi, who is chief justice of the Peshawar High Court, recused himself from the bench after Musharraf's lawyer objected to his inclusion, saying Justice Afridi was former chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry's lawyer.

The special court hearing the case had resumed proceedings against Musharraf on March 8 after a gap of nine months.

Earlier on March 21, the court had ordered the confiscation of the ex-army chief's properties, and called for steps for his extradition to Pakistan.

Musharraf, through his counsel, requested for foolproof security upon return to Pakistan in relation to his appearance before the court.

However, a few days later, Musharraf's counsel informed the court that they were unsatisfied with the security arrangements and thus his client would not be travelling to the country until adequate arrangements are in place.

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.