Zia-ul- Haq, Musharraf could be tried under the High Treason Act: Pak minister

Islamabad, May 1 (ANI): Pakistan Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Babar Awan has said that former dictators, General Zia-ul- Haq and General Pervez Musharraf could be tried under the High Treason (Punishment) Act of 1973 for subverting the Constitution.

Appearing in the Supreme Court to clarify whether a former president can be brought to court on a public complaint or not, Awan, who is also the country's acting law minister, said: "General Zia can be charged posthumously with sabotaging the 1973 Constitution in 1977 and General Musharraf twice in 1999 and 2007."

Explaining the details of the Article 6 of the Constitution which deals with high treason for undermining the Constitution, Awan said: "The act that was notified in the gazette of Pakistan in 1973, had become a 'dead letter' since no civilian or military ruler had ever been tried under the law during the past 36 years in view of political exigencies."

"Section 2-a of the act says that a person found guilty of having committed an act of abrogating or subverting the Constitution enforced in Pakistan at any time would be tried under the law to hand down death sentence or life imprisonment," The Dawn quoted Awan, as saying.

According to the law, General Ayub Khan could also be tried for high treason, because he had transferred power to General Yahya Khan instead of the then assembly speaker, he said. (ANI)