rejected a contempt petition filed against former military ruler Pervez Musharraf
Islamabad: Pakistan Supreme Court on Monday rejected a
contempt petition filed against former military ruler Pervez Musharraf in
connection with his request to the government to lift a travel ban on him.
Maulvi Iqbal Haider had
filed the contempt of court petition in the apex court against the 70-year-old
former president. He had argued that Musharraf had sent an application to the
interior ministry for removal of his name from the exit control list (ECL) without
seeking clearance from the Supreme Court which was tantamount to contempt of
court.The court raised objections over Haider’s application, saying that he was
not a party to the matter and that he had submitted a wrong address in the
petition. The application was thus returned, Dawn News reported.
Musharraf was indicted
on 31 March in a treason trial for suspending, subverting and abrogating the
Constitution, imposing an emergency in the country in November 2007 and
detaining judges of the superior courts.The former president, who is the first
military ruler in Pakistan’s history to be tried in court, has rejected all the
charges leveled against him. Musharraf had submitted his request for removal of
name from the ECL to the interior ministry after the special court, which
indicted him in the treason case, ruled that it was for the government to
decide on the matter.
The government had
rejected his petition on 2 April. “The request has been considered on the basis
of record of pronouncements of the superior courts on the cited subject and
pending criminal cases in various courts. The federal government is unable to
accede to your request in public interest,” a letter written by the interior
ministry to Musharraf said.Those people who figure on interior ministry’s ECL
cannot leave the country without permission. Musharraf is keen to travel out of
the country to meet his ailing mother in UAE and for his treatment in the US.
Musharraf had returned from his self-imposed exile last year to fight in the general
elections. However, he found himself entangled in a web of cases including the
one related to the assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto and
high-treason.
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