ISLAMABAD : As Pakistan will mark the first of its kind treason trial of an army general, the sword also hangs on the heads of many collaborators of former army chief General (retd) Pervez Musharraf, legal and constitutional experts say.
Treason trial against Musharraf’s collaborators will be initiated under clause 2 of Article 6. If a court decides to go ahead with the trial, many high-ranking officials will then be answerable, experts add.
‘Opening a Pandora’s box’
“This case will open a Pandora’s box,” says senior lawyer SM Zafar. “Musharraf’s collaborators will be tried under Article 6 of the Constitution. I also mentioned names of several high-ranking officials who could possibly be Musharraf’s collaborators in this unconstitutional act,” Zafar added.
Clause two of Article 6 states that any persons aiding, abetting or collaborating with a person who abrogates the Constitution shall also be guilty of high treason.
Constitutional expert Baber Sattar said that the high treason case may be expanded by the Supreme Court and is likely to drag many high-ranking officers and political leaders.
Sattar said it will be difficult for Musharraf’s counsel to justify that collaborators had endorsed the former president’s decision to proclaim emergency in 2007.
The Supreme Court may constitute a special tribunal to hear Musharraf’s case, Sattar said, adding that it can also refer the case to any trial court for further proceedings.
Clash of institutions
Senior lawyer Aitzaz Ahsan, who is also a Pakistan Peoples Party senator, endorsed the government’s decision to try Musharraf under Article 6 and said it was a move in the right direction.
However, Ahsan foresees a clash of institutions with the initiation of the trial, as it was the first time in Pakistan’s history that a military rule is being questioned.
“All the pretexts and excuses have been given—it is going to lead to a clash of institutions and will harm democracy,” Ahsan told The Express Tribune.
November 3 emergency
Many petitions have been filed to put Musharraf to trial for high treason. One petitioner, Jameel Ahmed Malik agreed that Musharraf’s collaborators must be put to trial for high treason with the former military ruler.
To justify his claim, Malik quoted Musharraf’s proclamation of November 2007 emergency in his petition filed in the Supreme Court on September 2009.
“The situation has been reviewed in meetings with the prime minister, governors of the provinces, and with the chairman joint chiefs of staff committee, chiefs of the armed forces, vice-chief of army staff and corps commanders of the army. Therefore, in pursuance of the deliberations, and decisions of the said meetings, I, General Pervez Musharraf, Chief of the Army Staff, proclaim Emergency throughout Pakistan,” the proclamation read out.
The petition carries names of retired and serving high ranking military men, superior courts’ judges and politicians who could possibly be summoned by the court during treason trial.
These names include: Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, Minister for Science and Technology Zahid Hamid, former Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, Governor Sindh Ishrat Ul Ebad Khan, former Governor Baluchistan Owais Ahmad Ghani, former Governor Punjab Lieutenant General (retd) Khalid Maqbool and former Governor KPK Lieutenant General (retd) Ali Mohammad Jan Aurakzai.
General (retd) Tariq Majid, former Chief of Naval Staff Admiral (retd) Muhammad Afzal Tahir, Air Chief Marshal (retd) Tanveer Mahmood Ahmed, Lieutenant General (retd) Sajjad Akram, Lieutenant General (retd) Khalid Shameem Wynne, Lieutenant General (retd) Waseem Ahmad Ashraf, former director general of Intelligence Bureau Brigadier (retd) Ijaz Shah, Lieutenant General (retd) Hamid Javed, MNA Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao, Lt. Gen (retd) Hamid Nawaz Khan, former interior secretary Syed Kamal Shah, former Principal Secretary Law Justice (retd) Mian Muhammad Ajmal, former Attorney General Malik Muhammad Qayyum and former law secretary Mansoor Ali Khan, justice (retd) Abdul Hameed Dogar, justice (retd) Nawaz Abbasi, justice (retd) Syed Saeed Ashad, justice (retd) Faqir Muhammad Khokhar, justice (retd) Javed Buttar, justice (retd) Muhammad Qaim Jan Khan, justice (retd) Ijaz-ul-Hassan, justice (retd) Muhammad Moosa Leghari, justice (retd) Chaudhry Ejaz Yousuf, justice (retd) Mian Hamid Farooq, justice (retd) Syed Zawwar Hussain, justice (retd) Muhammad Farrukh Mehmood, justice (retd) Sheikh Hakim Ali, justice (retd) Zia Perwez, justice (retd) Sardar Muhammad Aslam, justice (retd) Akhtar Shabbir, justice Syed Zahid Hussain, justice (retd) Mian Muhammad Najum-uz-Zaman, justice (retd) Maulvi Anwar-ul-Haq, justice (retd) Nasim Sikandar.
Only Musharraf to be tried
A former ambassador, B A Malik, however, thinks otherwise. In his view only Musharraf should be tried because he was the Chief of Army Staff and President and was hence, personally responsible for subverting the constitution like former military rulers, Ayub Khan, Yahya Khan and Ziaul Haq.
The whole army can not be dragged into the controversy of course, he said.
Former President Musharraf may not be tried for subverting the Constitution on October 1999 as the Parliament under Shaukat Aziz had validated this act.
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