ISLAMABAD: A special court on Thursday accepted former president General (R) Pervez Musharraf’s plea to postpone the hearing of a treason trial against him owing to his poor health.
A three-member bench of the SC headed by Justice Tahira Safdar adjourned the case’s hearing till June 12, after Musharraf’s counsel Barrister Salman Safdar requested the court that his client is unable to travel to Pakistan due to his poor health.
The former president despite all of his assurances failed to appear before the court today. The Musharraf’s counsel told the court that he was supposed to arrive in Pakistan to make an appearance but was immediately shifted to a hospital amid his poor health.
Barrister Salman Safdar revealed before the court that his client is suffering from severe diseases and is unable to walk and he cannot answer the questions without the latter’s’ consultation.
Doctors have advised him to refrain from travelling due to his poor health.
The court after hearing the arguments of the Musharraf’s lawyer accepted the request of the former president and postponed the case’s hearing till June 12.
It is pertinent to mention here that the Supreme Court in its verdict had said that if Pervez Musharraf did not return to the country then he will deprive of his right to defend in the case.
The Supreme Court (SC) on April 1, ordered General (r) Pervez Musharraf to appear before a special court hearing a high treason case against him on May 2, otherwise, he would lose the right of defence in the case.
A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Asif Saeed Khosa was hearing a petition filed by Advocate Taufeeq Asif who pointed out that there has been no progress in the treason case as Musharraf had not returned to the country since 2016.
In the previous hearing, the top court had said that it would intervene if the special court, in its next hearing, failed to make a decision on how to record the former president’s statement.
The SC said that if the former president does not appear before the special court on May 2, he would lose his right to record a statement under Section 342 of the Code of Criminal Procedures (CrPC). Additionally, the apex court noted that if Musharraf appeared in the court on May 2, all the facilities would remain available to him. If Musharraf does not appear before the special court on May 2, the court should give its decision based on the prosecution’s arguments, the apex court ruled.
A March 28 order of the special court, calling Musharraf to court on May 2, was also presented in the top court.
The special court had ordered Musharraf to appear before it on May 2. At that hearing, defence lawyer Salman Safdar had said that the former president wished to appear in court on May 13. Upon hearing this, the three-member bench headed by Justice Tahira Safdar had directed Musharraf to appear in court before Ramazan.
A special court had indicted Musharraf for high treason in March 2014. Musharraf left for Dubai in 2016 to “seek medical treatment” and hasn’t returned since. Last month, he was admitted to a hospital in Dubai after suffering a reaction from a rare disease for which he is already under treatment.
