Pakistan special court rejects Musharraf's pleas

Islamabad: A special court hearing treason case against former Pakistani military dictator Pervez Musharraf on Friday dismissed his pleas accusing judges of being biased and challenging the three-member bench. In the short order delivered by Justice Faisal Arab, all pleas filed by Musharraf have been dismissed and the hearing has been adjourned till March 11.

The bench noted that the applications were not based on merit. Musharraf, 70, is scheduled to appear before the bench on March 11 and he is likely to be indicted on that day.

The prosecution said that Musharraf will have to appear before the court at the next hearing and if he skips, they will seek a non-bailable arrest warrant. Meanwhile, the anti-terrorism court here, which is hearing the judges' detention case against Musharraf, adjourned Friday's hearing to March 21 after lawyers representing the former president failed to appear.

During the hearing, the defence team representing Musharraf did not appear in the court in support of the boycott of proceedings by lawyers representing the district bar and Islamabad High Court due to the terror attack on a local court here. The judges' detention case is based on an FIR against the retired general registered in August 2009 on the complaint of Chaudhry Mohammad Aslam Ghumman advocate.

He had asked the police to initiate legal proceedings against Musharraf for detaining over 60 judges, including then chief justice Iftikhar M Chaudhry, after proclamation of a state of emergency in 2007. Musharraf is the first military ruler in Pakistan’s history to face trial. He remains admitted at the Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology since January 2.