ISLAMABAD, Nov 15: The Supreme Court will start hearing from Tuesday an appeal against the Islamabad High Court’s rejection of a plea by a private citizen seeking registration of a criminal case against the ex-president, Pervez Musharraf, and former senior government functionaries for their alleged involvement in the operation against Lal Masjid and Jamia Hafsa.

A three-member bench comprising Justice Mohammad Moosa K. Leghari, Justice Syed Zawwar Hussain Jaffery and Justice Sheikh Hakim Ali will take up the petition of Khalid Khawaja, the chief coordinator of Defence of Human Rights, an NGO working for the cause of missing people, in which he named SHO Aabpara police station, SSP Islamabad, additional sessions judge and the federal government through the interior ministry respondents in the petition. Jamia Hafsa was razed after the Lal Masjid standoff between the government and the mosque management that began on January 22, 2007 when the students of the Jamia took over the Children’s Library adjacent to the mosque.

In his petition he stated that after refusal by the police to lodge FIR against the persons he nominated in his complaint with the Secretariat police station namely the former president, ex-interior minister Aftab Sherpao, the then chief commissioner and others for their alleged involvement in the Lal Masjid incident, he moved a case before the additional sessions judge Islamabad.

The petitioner had leveled allegations against the senior officials like murder, act of terrorism, kidnapping, abduction, criminal conspiracy, use of explosive substances and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings.

However the sessions judge rejected the application and then he moved the Islamabad High Court which also dismissed it.

Being aggrieved, Mr Khawaja filed the petition before the Supreme Court contending that the high court as well as the sessions judge had failed to appreciate the provisions of 22-A(6) and the dictum laid by the apex court that it was the statutory obligation of the court U/S 22-A to order registration of an FIR where cognizable offences had apparently taken place.

He stated that both the high court and the sessions judge misunderstood his grievance and pleaded that being a citizen of Pakistan, he wanted to register FIR regarding killing of hundreds of people in Lal Masjid and Jamia Hafsa including children.

He contended that the state had to follow law and could not kill innocent people at its sweet will. The incident of Lal Masjid and Jamia Hafsa is a testimony to the alleged highhandedness of the nominated accused and their complete disregard of human lives and the safety of its citizens, he stated.