ISLAMABAD, June 6: While an anti-terrorism court (ATC) fixed June 15 for indictment of retired General Pervez Musharraf in the judges’ detention case, the special police prosecutor told the Islamabad High Court on Thursday that there was no evidence that the former president had issued orders to detain the judges.

During the hearing of a bail plea of Mr Musharraf, special prosecutor Amir Nadeem Tabish told the court that a joint investigation team had not received any response to two letters it wrote to the SC registrar seeking necessary documents and statements of seven apex court judges deposed after proclamation of emergency on Nov 3, 2007.

The prosecutor told the bench comprising Justice Noorul Haq N. Qureshi and Justice Riaz Ahmad Khan that the prosecution had no evidence except newspaper clippings, statements of 23 lawyers and a CD with a recording of former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani saying ‘the judges should be released’.

He said the prosecution needed to verify the material by recording statements of journalists, who had covered the post-emergency events, lawyers, deposed judges and members of their family under Section 161 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

Earlier Advocate Ilyas Siddiqui, counsel for Mr Musharraf, informed the court that there were 14 witnesses, including police officials and lawyers, in the interim challan of the case.

He said the SC judgment of July 31, 2009, clearly says that Pervez Musharraf had proclaimed the emergency on the advice of the prime minister.

Justice Qureshi asked the counsel if it should be presumed that the president of Pakistan was totally ignorant of law? What about his personal responsibilities?

Advocate Siddiqui said that after the proclamation of emergency, judges were asked to take fresh oath under the provisional constitution order (PCO). Some of them took the fresh oath while others did not, he said.

He said that after the 2008 elections, the PPP-PML-N coalition government accepted Mr Musharraf as president and its ministers took oath from him.

The counsel said if Mr Musharraf was accused of abrogating the constitution, why did the government not initiate an impeachment process against him? He even received a guard of honour while leaving the presidency, he argued.

He said Section 344 under which the FIR had been lodged against Mr Musharraf was a bailable offence.

Justice Qureshi said that an IHC bench had ordered for insertion of sections from the Anti-Terrorism Act. But the counsel said the court could not insert anything in the FIR, only the investigation officer could do it.

The court put off the hearing till June 11.

Also on Thursday, IHC Chief Justice Mohammad Anwar Khan Kasi approved jail trial of Mr Musharraf after the court’s registrar submitted a satisfactory report.

After the IHC approval, ATC Judge Syed Kausar Abbas Zaidi heard the case in the sub-jail and fixed June 15 for indictment of Mr Musharraf.