Enraged by Musharraf's death sentence, Imran Khan govt to oust judge

Peshawar High Court Chief, Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth, in his 167-page detailed judgement said the "convict be hanged by his neck till he dies on each count as per charge".

Saima Siddiqui
Published on: 20 Dec 2019 10:17 AM GMT
Enraged by Musharrafs death sentence, Imran Khan govt to oust judge
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Islamabad: Ranting over a special court's verdict to drag former Pakistan Gen Pervez Musharraf's corpse to the Parliament and hang it for three days, Pakistan's present Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday said that it will move to the Supreme Judicial Council to oust the "mentally unfit" judge.

Peshawar High Court Chief, Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth, in his 167-page detailed judgement said the "convict be hanged by his neck till he dies on each count as per charge".

"We direct the law enforcement agencies to strive their level best to apprehend the fugitive/convict and to ensure that the punishment is inflicted as per law and if found dead, his corpse be dragged to the D-Chowk, Islamabad, Pakistan and be hanged for 03 days,"the head of the three-member bench, Justice Waqar wrote.

ALSO READ: This is why Musharraf’s corpse to be hanged on ‘D-Chowk’ for 3 days!

It is to be mentioned that the D-Chowk, or Democracy Chowk is close to several important government buildings - the Presidency, the Prime Minister's office, the Parliament, and the Supreme Court.

Soon after the detailed verdict, Prime Minister Imran Khan consulted his legal team and a meeting was announced at a press conference by his top aides.

Criticizing the judgement, the Law Minister Farogh Naseem said that the judgment shows that Justice Seth is "mentally unfit" as he suggested to hang the dead body of Musharraf if he dies before his execution. He said such a punishment was against any law of Pakistan.

"The federal government has decided to go to the Supreme Judicial Council as the government believes that such a person cannot be a judge of any High and Supreme Court. If a judge gives such a judgment then such a judge is mentally unfit and incompetent," Farogh Naseem said.

The Supreme Judicial Council is the only body which can remove a judge of high court and supreme court in the country.

Naseem further said that government would also ask the higher judiciary to stop Justice Seth from performing his duties because it is an "unprecedented and despicable observation by the judge."

Denouncing the verdict, Shehzad Akbar, another aide of Khan, said that the judgment was against all norms of law and the government would not only seek to unseat of the judge Seth but also file an appeal against the judgment. He also said that the judgment was made in haste and the accused was not given the right of fair trial.

"We have decided to file an appeal against the verdict," Akbar said.

The detailed judgement not only attracted government's wrath but also angered the army, which said the verdict was against all human, religious and civilizational values.

The detailed judgement had come hours after Musharraf raised serious questions on his trial and said the verdict was based on some people's "personal animosity" towards him.

"Some people in high offices misused their authority to target one individual," he said alluding to the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Asif Saeed Khosa.

ALSO READ: This is why Musharraf’s corpse to be hanged on ‘D-Chowk’ for 3 days!

Saima Siddiqui

Saima Siddiqui

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