Judge recuses himself from Musharraf treason case

Justice Faisal Arab of the Sindh High Court who headed the special three-member court constituted to try former military president Pervez Musharraf for high treason recused himself Thursday.

Musharraf's lawyers had accused Justice Arab of bias and partiality, reported Xinhua.

This development has temporarily halted the proceedings and the chief justice of the Supreme Court could nominate another judge to lead the bench.

Musharraf is facing high treason charges for suspending the constitution when he declared emergency rule in 2007.

Defence lawyer Anwar Mansoor said Thursday that he was not satisfied with the way the case was being heard. He reiterated his criticism of the issuance of non-bailable arrest warrant for his client.

 

The court in a verdict earlier this month had rejected objections to the court's formation, the alleged bias of its judges and the procedure for the judges' nomination.

Musharraf's lawyers have raised objections to the appointment of special prosecutor Akram Shaikh, who had insisted on issuance of a non-bailable arrest warrant after Musharraf did not appear before the court despite several directives.

Another Musharraf lawyer, Ahmed Raza Kasuri, said the defence team had told the bench they were not comfortable with the proceedings.

On this, Justice Arab walked out of the proceedings and said he was stepping aside from the case.

Earlier, the former president had challenged the jurisdiction of the special court and his defence lawyers had argued that only a military court could try Musharraf under the Army Act.

A previous ruling stated that Musharraf was now retired and no more subject to military laws.

Musharraf had taken over in a bloodless coup when he had dismissed the government of then prime minister Nawaz Sharif in 1999.

Musharraf, who had resigned in 2008 as president and had gone into exile, returned to Pakistan in March this year to run in parliamentary elections. However, a court disqualified him from competing in the general elections in May last year.

The court issued an arrest warrant for Musharraf Jan 31 after he failed to appear at previous hearings despite several orders. Legal experts are now of the view that the arrest warrant and other verdicts are null and void.