Pak special court set to resume treason case against Musharraf

The three-judge special court will resume a high treason trial against Pakistan's former president General (retired) Pervez Musharraf on August 20.

The bench, which will be headed by Lahore High Court (LHC) Chief Justice Justice (CJI) Yawar Ali, will also comprise of Balochistan High Court (BHC) Justice Tahira Safdar and Sindh High Court (SHC) Justice Nazar Akbar.

The case was filed by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government in 2013, alleging that Musharraf had unlawfully suspended the constitution with the help of the military and instituted an emergency rule in the year 2007.

The trial against General Musharraf has been pending before the judicature since March 2016 after he fled to Dubai citing health issues following the removal of his name from the Exit Control List (ECL).

Due to Musharraf's absence during the case proceedings in past few years, the special court had reportedly declared him as a proclaimed offender and directed the authorities to confiscate all his properties which could not be attached due to the litigation in the courts of law.

Just a few days after resuming the proceedings in the treason case, the judicature ordered the authorities to block General Musharraf's computerized national identity card and passport after he didn't return to Pakistan despite giving the last chance.

Also, the public prosecutor in the treason case named Mohammad Akram Sheikh has put down his resignation on July 30, stating that it is the responsibility of the Prime Minister-in-waiting Imran Khan to appoint a new lawyer in order to proceed this case.

On a related note, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) headed by Imran Khan emerged as the single largest party with 115 seats after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in July released the complete preliminary results for 270 of 272 National Assembly (NA) constituencies.