Lahore HC declares formation of special court that heard Musharraf treason case as 'unconstitutional'

The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday declared the formation of a special court -- which had handed death sentence to Pakistan's former military dictator Pervez Musharraf in a high treason case last year -- as "unconstitutional", local media reported.

A three-member full bench of the LHC, comprising Justice Syed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, Justice Mohammad Ameer Bhatti and Justice Chaudhry Masood Jahangir, also ruled that the treason case against the former president was not prepared in accordance with the law, Dawn reported.

The special court had heard the treason case against Musharraf and handed him death sentence on December 17, last year, after finding him guilty of treason.

Following this, a set of petitions was filed by Musharraf in the LHC, asking the court to set aside the special court's verdict for being illegal, without jurisdiction and unconstitutional for violating Articles 10-A, 4, 5, 10 and 10-A of the Constitution.

The applications filed by Musharraf had been returned by LHC on December 27, last year due to the unavailability of the full bench during the winter vacation. These were filed again on January 8 by a legal panel comprising Khwaja Ahmad Tariq Rahim and Azhar Siddique.