QUETTA: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Quetta, hearing Baloch nationalist leader Nawab Akbar Bugti’s murder case, exempted former president Pervez Musharraf from appearing in court for Wednesday’s hearing.

Judge Aftab Ahmed directed Nawabzada Jamil Akbar Bugti — Akbar Bugti’s son — to record his statement before the court in the next hearing.

Musharraf's lawyer, Akhtar Shah, requested the court to grant his client permanent exemption from appearing before the court but the judgment in this respect was reserved.

ATC judge Aftab Ahmed during the course of the hearing said no progress had been made in the case over the past two years. “There has to be some progress in the case,” he remarked.

Former interior minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao and former Balochistan home minister Mir Shoaib Nowsherwani also appeared before the court; both have been named as accused in Bugti's murder.

In the preceding hearing, a medical board comprising senior doctors had submitted its report on Musharraf’s health, which said the former military ruler was suffering from spinal and cardiac diseases, among others.

Know more: Medical report suggests Musharraf suffering from neuro, cardiac problems.

But Jamil Bugti's lawyer had challenged the medical report’s assertion in court. Sohail Rajput, Jamil Bugti's lawyer, argued Musharraf could appear before the court given the facilities at his avail.

Nawab Akbar Bugti was killed in an operation in Balochistan's Kohlu district on August 26, 2006. Akbar Bugti's son, Jamil Bugti, nominated Pervez Musharraf, former premier Shaukat Aziz and other high-level officials as accused in his father’s murder.

The next hearing of the case is scheduled for May 13.