Lahore Court postpones hearing of petitions against Musharraf to Nov 1

Lahore, Oct 19 (ANI): The Lahore High Court (LHC) has postponed the hearing of two petitions seeking registration of a high treason case against former military ruler Pervez Musharraf and his extradition from abroad with the help of Interpol, until November 1.

On September 22, the judge had called for replies from the federal and Punjab governments in this regard, the Daily Times reports.

On Monday, the deputy attorney general appeared before the court and sought time to file a reply, and the judge accepted his request.

The judge had earlier remarked that prima facie, the registration of a case of high treason under Article 6 of the Constitution was under the federal government's jurisdiction, as the courts had no direct role in it.

The first petitioner, Advocate Ilamuddin Ghazi, had moved the petition levelling 15 allegations of different nature against the former president. He said Musharraf had violated the Constitution by detaining several judges of the superior judiciary and even placed the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, and his family under house arrest.

He also accused Musharraf of ordering the killing of Baloch leader Nawab Akbar Bugti, and joining the US' war against terror without consulting the nation.

Tameer-e-Pakistan Party Secretary General, Aziz Ahmad Awan, through counsel SN Khawar, moved the second petition.

Awan submitted that by breaching the oath of an army general, Musharraf overthrew an elected government in October 1999 and later on, he again subverted the constitution and imposed emergency and issued provisional constitution order whereof he detained judges of the superior judiciary and disgraced them.

He requested the court to take cognizance of these offences against Musharraf and direct the Cabinet Division to seek his extradition through Interpol, as it was done in case of Hamesh Khan, and put him on trial for high treason. (ANI)