A petition was filed in Pakistan's Supreme Court today seeking the trial of former military ruler Pervez Musharraf for high treason.
A petition was filed in Pakistan's Supreme Court today seeking the trial of former military ruler Pervez Musharraf for high treason, a news report said.
Zafar Ali Shah, a senior leader of Pakistan opposition party PML-N, petitioned the apex court to begin a trial for high treason under Article 6 of the Constitution against the the 66-year old former president, The Nation newspaper said.
The petition has been filed under Article 184/3 of the Constitution and made the federal government and Musharraf as party to the case under Article-183/4 of the constitution.
Citing the recent Supreme Court ruling declaring the imposition of emergency on November 3, 2007 by Musharraf as unconstitutional and illegal, Shah pleaded to order the registration of a case against him under Article 6.
In his plea, Shah maintained that Musharraf committed high treason against the state by declaring an emergency and dismissing more than 60 judges, the report said.
Musharraf was earlier booked by the Islamabad police for "illegally" detaining over 60 judges during the emergency in November 2007.
The opposition PML-N, which is headed by former premier Nawaz Sharif, has demanded that Musharraf, who is abroad as part of a long lecture tour, be tried for "treason". Former premier Sharif was toppled by Musharraf in a military coup in October 1999.
The PML-N has stepped up pressure on the government that Musharraf should be put on trial for treason after the Supreme Court ruled last month that the emergency imposed by him was unconstitutional and illegal.
Earlier, Sharif asked the armed forces to distance themselves from the former military ruler and file a lawsuit against him for suspending the Constitution during his tenure. The former president quit as army chief in late 2007 after choosing Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani as his successor.
Prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has said that his government would prosecute Musharraf for treason only after the Parliament passed a unanimous resolution seeking his trial.
Musharraf left Pakistan in mid-April to deliver a series of lectures and to address think tanks in several countries. For the past few weeks, he has been living in London.
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