KARACHI: The Sindh High Court reserved on Monday its verdict on an application filed by former president retired Gen Pervez Musharraf seeking removal of restrictions on his foreign travel because he wanted to see his ailing mother in Dubai.
A two-judge bench headed by Justice Sajjad Ali Shah said the court would announce its decision on Dec 23 after the applicant’s lawyer and the Attorney General of Pakistan concluded their final arguments.
The application sought review of the court’s earlier order restraining him from leaving the country without permission of the trial courts.
Gen Musharraf’s counsel Advocate A.Q. Halepota submitted that his client had appeared on March 29 before an SHC division bench and requested for a 21-day transitory bail for enabling him to surrender before the trial courts in cases pertaining to the killing of veteran nationalist leader Nawab Akbar Bugti and former prime minister Benazir Bhutto. He said the court had extended his bail for 21 days with the condition that he would not leave the country without permission of the trial courts and his name was placed on the exit control list.
The counsel said the trial courts had confirmed Gen Musharraf’s bail in both cases and he had also been granted bail in a case relating to murder of Lal Masjid cleric Ghazi Abdul Rasheed during an army operation in 2007.
He said Gen Musharraf wanted to see his 95-year-old mother who was seriously ill in Dubai. He said it was the uppermost desire of Gen Musharraf to be with his mother after his release on bail.
Advocate Halepota said placing the name on the ECL was a violation of fundamental rights and prayed to the court to modify its earlier order in this regard.
Attorney General Munir A. Malik argued that Gen Musharraf was involved not only in the two cases but was also required in a treason case under Article 6 of Constitution for subverting and abrogating the constitution.
He contended that under the law the court had no jurisdiction to decide his application.
Earlier, Deputy Attorney General Mohammad Zahid Khan had submitted a statement on behalf of the interior
ministry and said that the name of the former military ruler had been put on the ECL after fulfilling all legal requirements.
He said that in his application Gen Musharraf did not say whether he had approached the trial courts for permission to leave the country. He said the applicant had also not discussed the grounds for seeking modification of the court’s earlier order. He requested the court to dismiss the application as non-maintainable.
The SHC had on March 22 granted protective bail to Gen Musharraf in three high-profile cases in which he was facing arrest warrants. Then chief justice Mushir Alam granted him a 10-day bail in the case of ‘illegal confinement’ of 62 judges after declaration of a state of emergency on Nov 3, 2007.
The same day, a two-judge bench headed by Justice Sajjad Ali Shah granted him bail for two weeks in the murder cases of Benazir Bhutto and Akbar Bugti in which he was facing non-bailable arrest warrants.
Gen Musharraf’s daughter Ayla Raza had filed a constitutional petition for the protective bail so that he could appear before courts to defend himself.
On March 29, the two SHC benches had accepted his request for the extension of bail in the three cases, but barred him from leaving the country without the permission of trial courts.
