Lahore HC to take up Musharraf's pleas against his conviction in treason verdict today

The Lahore High Court (LHC) will hear on Thursday three civil miscellaneous applications filed by convicted former military dictator Pervez Musharraf, challenging the formation and proceedings of the special court in the high treason case against him.

A three-judge bench comprising Justice Syed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, Justice Mohammad Ameer Bhatti and Justice Chaudhry Masood Jahangir will hear the applications which challenge multiple actions against Musharraf, including the formation of a special court which had handed down the death penalty to him on December 17, Dawn reported.

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

In his applications, the former military dictator asked the High Court to set aside the special court's verdict for being illegal, without jurisdiction, unconstitutional and in violation of Articles 10-A, 4, 5, 10 and 10-A of the Constitution.

The applications argued that the president of the special court had crossed all religious, moral, civil and constitutional limits, while ruthlessly, irreligiously, unlawfully, unrealistically awarding a sentence against the dignity of a person.

Musharraf was booked in the treason case in 2013 for imposing a state of emergency in the country on November 3, 2007, and suspending the Constitution till the mid of December 2007. He was handed down the death penalty by the special court on December 17 with a two to one majority.