Islamabad: Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Monday directed authorities to paste a notice at the residence of former President Pervez Musharraf seeking his response to a petition for registering a second FIR regarding the assassination of ex-premier Benazir Bhutto.
A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry issued the order during the hearing of a petition by Bhutto’s former protocol officer Aslam Chaudhry, who wants a second FIR to be registered against Musharraf and 12 others.
The bench said a notice seeking Musharraf’s reply should be pasted outside his residence in Islamabad. The former military ruler, currently living in self-exile in London and Dubai, has not responded to a notice issued last month by the apex court.
However, the prosecutor general of Punjab province said in a reply submitted on behalf of police officials in Rawalpindi that a second FIR could not be registered in the presence of the first FIR. The challan or charge-sheet related to the first FIR too has been presented in anti-terrorism court conducting the trial of seven suspects charged with involvement in the assassination, the prosecutor general said.
The court was told by prosecutors that the respondents, including Musharraf, Interior Minister Rehman Malik and former Law Minister Babar Awan, had not submitted their replies despite the court’s orders. The court ordered officials to send a fresh notice to Awan through the Attorney General.
The court further issued directions for notices to be sent to police officials Saud Aziz and Khurram Shahzad through the Punjab police chief.
Aziz and Shahzad are among the seven suspects facing trial for Bhutto’s assassination. They were arrested on charges of negligence in providing security to Bhutto, who was killed by a suicide bomber after addressing an election rally in Rawalpindi in December 2007.
The court also accepted the Federal Investigation Agency’s request to be made a party in the case and adjourned the hearing for two weeks. Interior Minister Rehman Malik has said the government has approached Interpol to issue a Red Corner Notice for the arrest of Musharraf in connection with Bhutto’s assassination. Musharraf recently deferred plans to return to Pakistan after authorities warned he would be arrested on arrival. (PTI)
