The special court on Friday rejected former president Pervez Musharraf’s request which called for holding his trial in a military court instead of a civilian court.
“This application is dismissed,” Judge Faisal Arab said at the end of today's hearing. The three-judge bench including Justice Faisal Arab, Tahira Safdar and Justice Yar Wali Khan ruled that he was no longer in the army and that high treason can be tried exclusively in a special court.
During today's hearing, the bench announced its decision, which had been reserved earlier, of rejecting Musharraf's plea that had challenged the jurisdiction of the special court and had sought to hold the treason trial at a military court.
Furthermore, Musharraf has been summoned on March 11. Former president is likely to be indicted on that day. The court verdict said that Musharraf will be tried by the special court as it was constituted specifically for this purpose and that the Army Act does not apply in the case because he was not a military official any more.
In its order, the court said that the army act that the counsels mentioned in the plea, cannot be applied if the accused has been retired from the post. It also said that the army act of 1977 was declared null and void in 1981.
Earlier, Musharraf’s legal team filed three applications including jurisdiction of the special court and transferring the trial to military court under army act. Meanwhile, decision over another petition relating to the issue of biased judges will be announced on March 4.
