ISLAMABAD, June 20: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday rejected an application seeking to make accountable President Pervez Musharraf and Adviser to Prime Minister on Interior Rehman Malik in a contempt of court petition against senior government officials for not producing details about the detention of country’s top nuclear scientist Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan.

IHC Chief Justice Sardar Mohammad Aslam said the court was turning down the request of advocate Javed Iqbal Jafferi as it was dispatched to the court by post, instead of submitting with the registrar in person.

The court decided to hear the main petition of Mr Jafferi against the alleged detention of Dr Khan on June 24 when Deputy Attorney-General Raja Abdur Rehman argued that the petition was liable to be dismissed since the petitioner was not a blood relative of the scientist.

Raja Rehman cited a Nov 22, 2006 Supreme Court judgment by chief justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, in which a similar petition was dismissed on the grounds that the petitioner had no blood relation with Dr Khan.