Islamabad (Web Desk): The Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday upheld late former president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf's death sentence awarded to him by a special court in 2019 in the high treason case.
A four-member bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa and comprising Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Aminuddin Khan and Justice Athar Minallah heard the case.
“The impugned passed on January 13, 2020 by the Lahore High Court (LHC) is not sustainable and accordingly set aside,” CJP Qazi Faez Isa said while announcing the short order.
The apex court said heirs of former president didn’t pursue the case despite the repeated notices, hence the appeal was dismissed.
It noted that the special court announced the sentence to Pervaiz Musharraft on December 17, 2019 and he filed appeal in SC on January 16, 2020.
Petitioner’s lawyer Salman Safdar informed the court that former president passed away on February 5, 2023 and his appeal was fixed for hearing on November 10, 2023.
The lawyer told the court that he had conveyed several messages to the family of ex-president to pursue the case but he received no response.
The court further said that it had served notices to the legal heirs of Pervaiz Musharraf at their available addresses in Pakistan and abroad. The notices were also published in the newspaper, it added.
In January 2020, the LHC had declared unconstitutional all actions taken by the government against Pervez Musharraf, including the filing of a complaint on high treason charge and the formation of a special court as well as its proceedings, leading to the abolition of the death penalty handed down to the former military dictator.
On December 17, 2019, a special court had convicted Musharraf for high treason and handed him the death penalty on five counts in a 2-1 majority verdict.
The three-member special court headed by Chief Justice of the Peshawar High Court (PHC) Waqar Seth and comprising Justice Nazar Akbar of the Sindh High Court (SHC) and Justice Shahid Karim of the Lahore High Court (LHC) announced the verdict it had reserved on November 19, 2019.
Former military ruler Pervez Musharraf was charged with abrogating the Constitution twice, and a special court was constituted by then prime minister Nawaz Sharif to try the former military ruler was for high treason.
He was booked in the treason case in December 2013. The former president was indicted on March 31, 2014, and the prosecution had tabled the entire evidence before the special court in September the same year.
However, due to litigation at appellate forums, the trial of the former military dictator lingered on and he left Pakistan in March 2016.
Musharraf, who came to power after a coup in October 1999 and ruled Pakistan till 2008, passed away at age the of 79 in Dubai on February 5, 2023, after a protracted battle with a rare disease, amyloidosis.