Pakistan top court annuls Musharraf’s death penalty
   Date :14-Jan-2020

Pakistan top court annuls
 
 
By M Zulqernain
 
LAHORE :
 
IN A major relief for Pakistan’s self-exiled former military dictator, a top court here on Monday declared his “complaint and trial” in the high treason case as “unconstitutional” leading to the annulment of his death penalty by a special tribunal.
 
The special court of Islamabad on December 17 last handed down the death penalty to 74-year-old Musharraf after six years of hearing the high-profile treason case against him. The case was filed by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz Government in 2013. A three-member full bench of the Lahore High Court comprising Justices Syed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, Mohammad Ameer Bhatti and Chaudhry Masood Jahangir unanimously declared the formation of the special court against Musharraf as “unconstitutional”.
 
The court also ruled that the treason case against Musharraf was not prepared in accordance with the law. “The Lahore High Court has declared unconstitutional all actions right from initiation of complaint and its conclusion against General (retd.) Musharraf by the special court,” Additional Attorney General of Pakistan Ishtiaq A Khan told PTI. “Gen Musharraf is a freeman now,” he added.