Thaindian News

Islamabad, Jan 21(ANI): Pakistan’s Supreme Court has been pleaded to initiate the proceedings against former President Pervez Musharraf for high treason, and order to hang him for the unconstitutional steps he took on November 3, 2007, leading to the ouster of over 60 judges of the superior courts.

Dr Abdul Basit, the counsel for two dysfunctional judges of the Lahore High Court, made this plea to a four-member larger bench, which was hearing into the ‘contempt of court’ cases against the superior court judges, who had taken oath under the Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO) in defiance of a seven-judge bench’s restraining order of November 3, 2007.

Commencing his arguments, Basit told the bench that they themselves had already held Musharraf responsible for subversion of the Constitution and committing the offence of high treason.

To a court query, he said the punishment for the offence of high treason under Article 6 was capital punishment, thus ‘hang Musharraf’. “The principal accused was roaming and only judges of superior courts who took oaths during that period were issued notices,” The News quoted Basit, as saying.

The impression of PCO judges, who took oath under annulled provisional constitution order 2007, should be diluted, said the counsel, adding that a set of judges who took an oath to save the institution of judiciary should not be dubbed as Musharraf’s supporters.

Basit further contended that the ongoing contempt of court proceedings against the PCO judges were based on the distorted view incorporated in the July 31, 2009 verdict, which declared the emergency unconstitutional.

The court was chasing the judges who took oath on November 3, 2007 but ignoring those who administered them the oath, he added. (ANI)