Islamabad: An antiterrorism court on Friday summoned former Pakistani president and army chief Pervez Musharraf on February 9 in a case related to detention of judges of superior courts during his regime.
The court cautioned Musharraf that if he did not comply with the summons, he could be declared an absconder.
It directed the interior ministry secretary and Islamabad police chief to ensure that the former president is provided foolproof security upon his return to the country.
The 72-year-old former ruler left for Dubai in March last year for medical treatment after the Supreme Court granted him permission, leaving behind his trial by a special court on treason charges and some other cases he is facing.
The treason case is related to suspension of the country’s constitution by him in 2007 when he imposed emergency rule in the county and sacked judges of the superior judiciary.
Meanwhile, Musharraf on Friday filed an application in an antiterrorism court (ATC) in Islamabad seeking “foolproof security” in order to be able to return to Pakistan and appear in court in the judges detention case.
Until such security measures have been taken, the application said, Musharraf should be exempted from appearing in court.
The application said it is “neither safe nor advisable” for Musharraf to appear in person in the court due to security and medical reasons.
“Security conditions in the courts and otherwise have not yet improved,” the application read, and sought direction from authorities to provide security to Musharraf.
ATC Judge Sohail Ikram accepted the application and issued notices to Inspector General of police Islamabad and the home secretary. The hearing was adjourned until February 9.
At the last hearing of the judges’ detention case in December, the ATC gave a one-month deadline to Musharraf to surrender.
The court had warned at the time that the former military ruler would be declared a proclaimed offender if he failed to comply with the deadline.
The judges’ detention case was registered by the Secretariat police on August 11, 2009, on the complaint of Advocate Chaudhry Mohammad Aslam against the former military ruler for confining 60 judges of the superior courts for over five months and restraining them from administering justice.
The judges, including former Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, were detained after the proclamation of an emergency in the country.
