KARACHI: Interior Minister Ijaz Shah has said that former president general (retd) Pervez Musharraf was not given the right to a fair trial in the high treason case. He said the government wanted him to be given a fair chance.

Ijaz Shah said Musharraf was the first person to be tried under Article 6 of the Constitution, therefore all measures in the criminal justice procedure should be fulfilled against him. “He should be permitted to produce witnesses in his defence,” Tribune Pakistan has quoted him as saying.

Article 6 reads, “Any person who abrogates or subverts or suspends or holds in abeyance, or attempts or conspires to abrogate or subvert or suspend or hold in abeyance, the Constitution by use of force or show of force or by any other unconstitutional means shall be guilty of high treason.

“Any person aiding or abetting the acts mentioned shall likewise be guilty of high treason.”

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Ijaz, who has long been close aide of Musharraf, said the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz government had filed the case against the former president with a malicious intent.

On Dec 10, the Lahore High Court (LHC) had sought help of the interior ministry on the high treason charges against former military ruler general (retd) Pervez Musharraf.

The high court wanted to discuss the legal point that if the declaration of the state of emergency by Musharraf in November 2017 was tantamount to abrogation of the Constitution, an offence of high treason, Geo TV had reported.

Justice Syed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi had asked Additional Attorney General Chaudhry Ishtiaq Khan if the charges against the ex-military ruler could be withdrawn viewing the “legal shortcomings” as pointed by the accused’s lawyer. He had said this while hearing the plea challenging establishment of special court for hearing the case.

He had asked the additional attorney general whether imposing emergency and repealing the Constitution were separate matters. He had also asked whether the government would withdraw the case if legal requirements could not be fulfilled.