LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Tuesday allowed time to the federal government to produce complete record of high treason case against former president retired Gen Pervez Musharraf.

Officials of ministries of law and interior appeared before the court when Justice Syed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi resumed hearing of a petition by the former military dictator challenging the high treason proceedings in absentia before a special court.

The officials stated that the record of the case could not be produced as the same was lying with the Islamabad High Court in connection with previous hearing held by a full bench on the similar matter.

A deputy attorney general told the court that the attorney general would appear in person to render assistance on the point of the petition’s maintainability when the record of the case was presented.

Justice Naqvi adjourned the hearing till Dec 10 and directed the law officer to produce the record of the case.

Earlier, Advocate Azhar Siddique, counsel for Musharraf, raised two preliminary objections to the ongoing high treason proceedings. He said the complaint was filed with mala fide intention as it appeared from the notification that the direction was passed by the then prime minister, who was directly aggrieved by the act of the petitioner in the instant case, to the interior ministry for initiation of the proceedings.

He submitted that the complaint was filed without approval of the cabinet, which itself was in defiance of the guidelines, set by the Supreme Court in Mustafa Impex case. He said legal formalities contained in Article 10-A of the Constitution were not followed, which was not only against the dictum of due process of law but also basic principles of natural justice.

He argued that the proceedings carried out in pursuance of the complaint were also a violation of Section 4, 5 and 11 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1976.

Referring to Maulvi Iqbal Haider case, he pointed out that the Supreme Court had not passed any direction that the proceedings should be carried out by the prime minister.

Published in Dawn, December 4th, 2019