Verdict in case against ex-army chief to be announced soon: chief justice
ISLAMABAD: Pointing towards former president general (retd) Pervez Musharraf’s high treason case, Chief Justice of Pakistan Asif Saeed Khan Khosa on Wednesday said soon the verdict regarding former army chief’s case would be announced.
Addressing a ceremony in Islamabad, the chief justice was responding to the comments made by Prime Minister Imran Khan during a speech on Nov 18 in which he mentioned that there was an impression of separate legal systems for rich and poor which should be eradicated.
“I don’t want to speak up exactly about the case that PM Khan talked about, but we disqualified two prime ministers, convicted one PM and verdict regarding former army chief’s case is going to be announced (soon),” Asif Khosa said adding that only a couple of powerful people would be there in cases with the judiciary.
“Don’t taunt us of powerful people. Today’s judiciary should not be compared with the judiciary of pre-2009. We did exemplary work in less resources. We never sought money from anybody for reforms in judiciary. We have finished criminal backlog of last 25 years,” he said.
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He said the PM himself had decided to let him (Nawaz) go abroad. The high court had made only a partial decision, he said.
The top justice said those criticizing judges should be vigilant. No one was powerful before them, but the law, he added. He said the PM should also be careful while choosing words for judges.
He relayed that a prosecutor, while pursuing a high-profile case, was murdered.
On Nov 19, a special court in Islamabad had reserved its judgement in a high treason case against former president Pervez Musharraf. The ruling in the case will be announced on November 28.
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.
Sources told that neither plaintiff, nor anybody from the government side, nor counsel of Pervez Musharraf had appeared before the court during the hearing.
