High court stops special court from announcing verdict in Musharraf treason case

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday directed the special court to do not announce the verdict in high treason case against former president Pervez Musharraf for now.
The IHC said this while hearing the petition filed by the Ministry of Interior to stop the announcement of the judgement schedule to take place on Nov 28.
The high court approved the plea of the interior ministry to stop verdict of Musharraf treason case. It directed the special court to announce its verdict after hearing Pervez Musharraf’s argument.
Also Read: Court reserves verdict in Musharraf treason case
On Nov 25, two petitions were filed in a special court in Islamabad to stop the verdict against the former president and army chief in the high treason case.
One of the pleas was filed by the Ministry of Interior and the other by barrister Salman Safdar.
The plaintiffs had pleaded that the verdict should not be announced until the accused presented his arguments in his defence.
The Interior Ministry had said that the special court should dissolve its decision of reserving the verdict till appointment of the new prosecution team. While, the other application had said that the accused was deprived of the basic rights of justice. It had said that the former president could not appear before the court because of his severe illness.
On Nov 19, the Islamabad special court had reserved its judgement in the high treason case against Pervez Musharraf. The ruling in the case is scheduled to be announced on November 28 (Thursday).
Head of three-member bench of the special court, Peshawar High Court Chief Justice Waqar Seth had conducted the hearing.
The ex-president was indicted in the treason case in March 2014 for suspending the Constitution in 2007. While under court trial, he had left the country to get medical assistance in Dubai in 2016. He has not returned to the country since then.