ISLAMABAD: While both the government and the men implicated by a special court for ‘abetting’ retired General Pervez Musharraf in the imposition of emergency on Nov 3, 2007 are considering their legal options, a senior counsel challenged the order before the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday.

Taufiq Asif, former president of the Lahore High Court Bar Association’s Rawalpindi chapter, filed a petition against the order of the three-judge special court, handed down on Nov 21.

Read: Govt, Musharraf’s ‘abettors’ weighing legal options

The court had ordered the federal government to include former prime minister Shaukat Aziz, former law minister and, until recently, federal cabinet member Zahid Hamid, as well as former chief justice Abdul Hameed Dogar to be implicated as co-accused in the treason case against the former military ruler.

In the petition, Mr Asif has asked the court to first conclude the trial of Gen Musharraf, as the prosecution has already laid evidence against him.

Also read: Abettors’ trial ordered in Musharraf case

While the IHC registrar’s office has raised certain objections on the petition, as per the procedure, the petition may be fixed before a bench and the same objections would be heard on Thursday.

The registrar’s office pointed out that certain key documents were not attached with the petition and objected on the grounds that the proper appellate forum for such a petition was the Supreme Court.

Ex-LHCBA president asks court to complete former president’s trial before proceeding with others

Legal experts say the petition’s outcome would help the three co-accused, as well as the federal government, to plot a future course of action.

The government reportedly is said to be considering three options: challenging the order before the IHC; filing an appeal before the Supreme Court or filing a presidential reference before the apex court.

Mr Asif told Dawn that his petition had nothing to do with the government or the individuals that the court had asked the government to implicate. “My only request is simple: that the special court conclude Gen Musharraf’s trial,” he said.

A lawyer close to Justice Dogar, on the other hand, said that they were also monitoring developments that may help them come up with a strategy of their own.

“We are in no hurry, we will decide a future course of action after Dec 9, when the government will submit its comments before the special court,” he said.

He seemed confident that the government would drop the names of co-accused from the complaint.

“Unless Justice Dogar’s name is formally included in the petition and the court issues notices to him, we would prefer to stay away from unnecessary litigation,” he added.

Published in Dawn December 3rd , 2014