KARACHI, Feb 18: Special Judge Syed Kauser Ali Shah Bukhari of Suppression of Terrorist Activities (STA) Court, East, adjourned the hearing of a treason case against former PPP leader Masroor Ahsan and others after recording the statement of a prosecution witnesses.

The case against Mr Ahsan and 22 other PPP workers, including Mir Shahnawaz Bhutto and Mir Murtaza Bhutto, was registered in 1981 by the Ferozabad police for allegedly conspiring and attempting to wage war against Pakistan and collecting weapons under section 121, 121-A and 122 of the Pakistan Penal Code.

It was alleged that the accused persons in active connivance of one another had entered into a conspiracy to wage war against Pakistan “by means of criminal force or show of criminal force to the Federal Government”.

The judge fixed March 9 for the next hearing after the statement of Sub-inspector Muhammed Mubeen, who submitted before the court that the four out of 133 prosecution witnesses, cited in the final charge-sheet, were untraceable.

With the deposition of the police official, the prosecution has so far examined seven witnesses in the court during the past 19 years.

During these years nine accused persons — Mir Shahnawaz Bhutto and Mir Murtaza Bhutto, sons of the late prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Islamuddin Changa, Salamullah Tipu, Rehmatullah Anjum, Ghulam Mustafa Baloch, Ilyas Siddiqui, Agha Ashfaq and Manzar Alam — died.

Ten other accused persons — Sohail Sethi, Najme Alam, Ikram Qaimkhani, Nisar Qureshi, Saifullah Khalid, Nasir Jamal, Arshad Ali Khan, Maulana Javed Naumani and Qadir Bux Jatoi — are absconding and they have been declared proclaimed offender in the case.

Only four accused — Masroor Ahsan, Masood Hasan, Aftab Ahmed Memon and Hanif Ahmed Patel — are on bail and facing the trial. They all appeared in the court.

Earlier, the court had dismissed an application filed for the acquittal of Masroor Ahsan.