ISLAMABAD: Lawyers of former president retired General Pervez Musharraf on Tuesday termed the inquiry into the high treason case against the former military ruler ‘inconclusive’.

They requested the special court to refer it back to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) for nominating the then civilian and military leadership as the principal accused.

During the hearing of the treason case, Barrister Farogh Nasim, the lead counsel for Gen Musharraf, while referring to a statement of Interior Secretary Shahid Khan, the complainant in the case, claimed that the FIA investigation team did not make serious efforts to interrogate the abettors in order to single out the former military ruler.

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Barrister Nasim was arguing on an application seeking quashment of the treason case before the three-judge special court headed by Justice Faisal Arab of Sindh High Court.

He said though the interior secretary admitted his failure in obtaining the relevant record from the GHQ regarding the November 3, 2007 emergency, he had all the powers to summon the military personnel.

Barrister Farogh Nasim asks special court to send back ‘inconclusive’ inquiry to FIA

He can also file a petition with the high court to procure the record, he argued.

Referring to the proclamation of 2007, Barrister Nasim stated that it clearly mentioned the names of those civilian and military authorities who had been consulted on the imposition of the emergency.

Likewise, the counsel said, the interior secretary did not order an investigation against those parliamentarians who through a resolution had ‘ratified’ and executed the emergency.

He pointed out that the Supreme Court in the Mehran Bank Scandal case had made it clear that following illegal orders was an act of abetment.

Barrister Nasim explained that the apex court did not accept the justification of former army chief Mirza Aslam Baig that he distributed ‘funds’ among political parties on the direction of the then president, Ghulam Ishaq Khan.

He said in the treason case, the then prime minister, Shaukat Aziz, Zahid Hamid and some other ministers had publicly supported the imposition of emergency and also owned the act.

Barrister Nasim argued that the investigation team had recommended the competent authority to investigate the role of various facilitators but the interior secretary did not initiate any action against them.

He claimed that Article 6 of the Constitution, under which the federal government had filed the treason case against Gen Musharraf, clearly envisaged joint trial of all the accused.

They cannot be put on trial one by one.

He added that this was not only a legal matter but also pertained to the fundamental right of a fair trial.

The special court adjourned the proceedings till Wednesday when Musharraf’s lawyers would continue their arguments.

Published in Dawn, October 15th , 2014