Pak SC rejects contempt of court plea against Musharraf

Pakistan Supreme Court today rejected a contempt petition filed against former military ruler Pervez Musharraf in connection with his request to the government to lift a travel ban on him.

Maulvi Iqbal Haider had filed the contempt of court petition in the apex court against the 70-year-old former president.

He had argued that Musharraf had sent an application to the Interior Ministry for removal of his name from the Exit Control List (ECL) without seeking clearance from the Supreme Court which was tantamount to contempt of court.

The court raised objections over Haider's application, saying that he was not a party to the matter and that he had submitted a wrong address in the petition. The application was thus returned, Dawn News reported.

Musharraf was indicted on March 31 in a treason trial for suspending, subverting and abrogating the Constitution, imposing an emergency in the country in November 2007 and detaining judges of the superior courts.

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.

Musharraf had submitted his request for removal of name from the ECL to the Interior Ministry after the special court, which indicted him in the treason case, ruled that it was for the government to decide on the matter.

The government had rejected his petition on April 2.

"The request has been considered on the basis of record of pronouncements of the superior courts on the cited subject and pending criminal cases in various courts. The federal government is unable to accede to your request in public interest," a letter written by the Interior Ministry to Musharraf said.

Those people who figure on Interior Ministry's ECL cannot leave the country without permission.

Musharraf is keen to travel out of the country to meet his ailing mother in UAE and for his treatment in the US.

Musharraf had returned from his self-imposed exile last year to fight in the general elections.

However, he found himself entangled in a web of cases including the one related to the assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto and high-treason.