ISLAMABAD, Dec 4: Alliance for Restoration of Democracy president Makhdoom Javed Hashmi on Monday filed a review petition in the Supreme Court, which has rejected a challenge against his conviction in a sedition case.

On Oct 9, 2006, the apex court had dismissed an appeal of Mr Hashmi against an order of the Lahore High Court upholding a trial court’s verdict of sentencing him to 23 years imprisonment in a mutiny case.

Akram Sheikh filed the review petition on behalf of Mr Hashmi.

The review petition stated that the apex court had overlooked the material question of law and facts and errors of judgment were so manifestly floating on the surface and were so material that if the same had been noticed prior to the verdict, the conclusion would have been different.

“The case against the petitioner is absolutely false, frivolous and unfounded and the same is tainted with patent mala fide and ulterior motives of the prosecution,” the petition said, adding the prosecution had failed to bring home the guilt to the petitioner.

The failure of the LHC to either hear his appeal or suspend his sentence had seriously offended the petitioner’s right enshrined in Article 9 of the Constitution, the petition contended.

The petition stated that it had gone unnoticed that the case against the petitioner had been registered at the behest of state functionaries after nine days of delay of the alleged commission of offence.

Also, prosecution witnesses had allegedly been planted by the prosecution. They were puppets in the hands of the government and their services had been procured falsely and maliciously to involve the petitioner in the fabricated case, the petition contended.

Khurshid Ahmad, the so-called complainant in the case, was admittedly a retired major from the army and this important fact had been suppressed by him not only at the time of lodging the FIR, but also during investigations. It was only during the course of cross-examination that he revealed that he was a retired major and was living in a house in Islamabad, the review petition stated.