Pak court reserves ruling on Mush’s plea for probe report

Islamabad: A special court in Pakistan on Friday reserved till April 28 its ruling on Pervez Musharraf’s plea seeking a copy of probe report which is the basis of the treason trial against the former military ruler.
The three-judge court, headed by Justice Faisal Arab of the Sindh High Court, heard the case pertaining to high treason charges against the 70-year-old former President.
Musharraf’s lawyer Farogh Nasim said the trial should be fair else it should not take place at all. Nasim said that along with the Federal Investigation Agency’s probe report on the outcome of the investigation process, all the documents pertaining to the case should also be provided. He also questioned the initiation of the trial under Article 6 of the Constitution and said the process would be challenged. Nasim also expressed his reservations regarding the safety and preservation of the documents, saying it was common knowledge that records were not maintained properly in Pakistan.
The court subsequently adjourned the hearing of the case till April 28 while reserving its judgement related to the handing over of the FIA report. Nasim yesterday claimed several documentations pertaining to the emergency had been made to disappear and only the FIA report could help resolve the mystery as to which documents had gone missing. He alleged that non-provision of the FIA investigation report shows “malintention” on part of the government.
On March 31, Musharraf was formally charged for subverting and circumventing the Constitution by imposing emergency in 2007.
The court had on April 16 ruled that daily hearings would be held starting from today. Since Musharraf returned to Pakistan from self-exile in March last year, he has faced prosecution in four major cases, including for his alleged involvement in the murder of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto in 2007. The former president, who is the first military ruler in Pakistan’s history to be tried in court, has rejected all the charges leveled against him. (PTI)