In a landmark judgment, the Pakistan Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the death sentence of now-deceased former military ruler Pervez Musharraf given to him by a special court in a high treason case.
In December 2019, Musharraf was sentenced to death in absentia by the special court which found him guilty of high treason for imposing a state of emergency on November 3, 2007, by keeping the Constitution in abeyance. However, the Lahore High Court in 2020 declared the special court and its proceeding as unconditional.
The hearing of the sentence and the LHC judgment was conducted by a four-member bench headed by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa and comprising Justices Mansoor Ali Shah, Aminuddin Khan and Athar Minallah.
"The impugned sentence passed on January 13, 2020, by the Lahore High Court (LHC) […] is not sustainable and accordingly set aside," Chief Justice Isa said while announcing the short order.
During the hearing, Hamid Khan and Musharraf’s counsel Salman Safdar appeared before the court. "Musharraf's legal heirs did not follow the case even on multiple notices," the apex court said.
