News
Sunday, April 14, 2013
Musharraf challenges SC’s domain to hear treason case
* Urges court to form full court bench minus CJP to hear petitions
Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: Former president Gen (r) Pervez Musharraf on Saturday filed a reply in the Supreme Court in a treason case, questioning the court’s domain hear the same, and prayed the court to constitute a full bench for the proceedings.
Expressing mistrust over the chief justice of Pakistan (CJP), the former army chief requested the SC to constitute the full court minus Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry to hear five identical petitions against him for subverting the constitution and holding it in abeyance.
A two-member bench, headed by Justice Jawwad S Khawaja, is hearing the treason case from tomorrow (Monday). Musharraf filed the miscellaneous application through his counsel Ahmed Raza Khan Qasuri under order XXXIII, Rule 6 of the Supreme Court Rules, 1980.
Raising several questions in the application, Musharraf contended that it is the exclusive domain of the federal government to initiate proceedings against any person who abrogates, subverts, suspends or holds in abeyance, or attempts or conspires to abrogate, subvert, suspend or hold in abeyance the constitution by the use of force or show of force or by any other unconstitutional means shall be guilty of high treason.
He also questioned, “Whether it is not a fact that only an authorised officer of the federal government is competent to lodge a report against a person who is accused of subverting the constitution, and none else; thus, the law has virtually closed all doors for anyone else in the country to initiate such proceedings.”
The counsel contended whether it was not a fact that the Supreme Court was not competent under the dictates of the constitution to issue any direction to the federal government to initiate proceedings against his client, saying initiation of proceedings under High Treason (Punishment) Act, 1973 is within the exclusive jurisdiction of the federal government (executive).
He further argued that all the organs of the state – executive, legislature and judiciary – were the creations of the constitution and the parameters of their power had been regulated by the constitution. He said that as long as all the three organs of the state exercise their power according to the constitution, it ensures harmonious working of the state. “But as soon as, any one organ oversteps its constitutional parameter of power and enters the domain of the other state organ’s constitutional power, it result into constitutional deadlock.”
He therefore contended that any direction given by the court to the federal government to initiate proceedings against Musharraf would be a blatant violation of the principle of the tracheotomy of power. The SC’s institution branch returned Musharraf’s application with technical objections.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk