ISLAMABAD A petitioner on Friday requested the Supreme Court to issue an order to put the name of former president Pervez Musharraf on the Exit Control List (ECL) for his alleged involvement in the Lal Mosque incident.

Advocate Tariq Asad on behalf of the petitioner - Dr Akmal Saleemi - moved the application under Order 33 Rule 6 of the Supreme Court Rules 1980 to restrain Musharraf from leaving the country.

Before the proclamation of emergency on November 3, 2007, the apex court was hearing a case regarding 'extra judicial killings of innocent persons' on the premises of Lal Masjid and Jamia Hafsa on a suo motu notice.

The petition of Dr Saleemi had also been entertained and the court had taken up the case 20 times but after the emergency it was never fixed.

With the restoration of the deposed judges, the petitioner hoped that the petition would be taken up on priority basis. Federal government and the Interior Ministry are respondents in the application.

The petitioner contended that the whole tragedy was 'state managed drama' of the Musharraf's regime to divert attention from the popular lawyers' movement for the restoration of the then deposed judges with callous disregard for the lives of the citizens.

The application said the Musharraf government had deliberately concealed the death toll resulting from the military action by keeping the media away from the vicinity by imposing curfew in the area.

Before the military operation, the petitioner said, an amicable solution for reconciliation had reached between the parties but, he added, the former president refused to give his approval to it and ordered military operation resulting in killing of 'the innocent children.'

Unfortunately, many persons were still missing who were present inside the mosque and the Jamia Hafsa at that time, he maintained.

The people of Pakistan condemned the use of the armed forces, which according to the petitioner was against the law and beyond the scope of Article 245 (functions of the armed forces) and the rulings made by the superior courts.

The application demanded a judicial inquiry at the highest level into the 'carnage' at the mosque and severe action against those who were responsible for it.

The deaths of a large number of citizens, including the innocent children, are violation of the right to life and liberty guaranteed under Article 9 of the Constitution, the petitioner said, adding that the prolonged operation imposing restriction on the citizens of Islamabad was also violation of the same article.