The Supreme Court of Pakistan office has refused to entertain an appeal moved on behalf of former president Pervez Musharraf against his conviction in the high treason case.
An informed source said that the Supreme Court registrar office had returned the appeal on the grounds that unless the petitioner surrendered himself, his plea could not be entertained.
Order 23, Rule 8 of the Supreme Court Rules 1980 empowers the apex court to not accept any petition unless the convict surrenders to the authorities.
The counsel for Musharraf is expected to file an appeal soon against the Supreme Court registrar’s decision.
In his appeal filed on Thursday, Musharraf had requested the Supreme Court to overturn the special court’s December 17, 2019, verdict convicting him in the high treason case.
He had argued that the verdict should be set aside since the trial was conducted and completed in sheer violation of the Constitution as well as the Code of Criminal Procedure 1898.
The appeal also sought the right of audience before the Supreme Court in his physical absence as well as the suspension of the judgement in the interest of justice and fair play.
In a nutshell, the petition had pleaded that the case of the appellant was that he was being tried for a constitutional crime in an entirely unconstitutional manner.
The petition contended that Musharraf wished to draw the attention that his absence was not deliberate as he had multiple life-threatening ailments which had rendered him incapable of appearing before the Supreme Court.
“The appellant did not escape from custody and his is not a case of ‘jail break’,” the petition said, adding that the special court, while fully recognising and acknowledging his ailments in 2013 and 2014, exempted him from personal appearance so much so that all eight prosecution witnesses were examined in his absence.
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