Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Article 6 of the Constitution or constipation

ISLAMABAD: Top former judges of the Supreme Court, who had refused to take oath under Musharraf’s first PCO of 2000, say Musharraf is trying to create confusion over Article 6 of the Constitution to escape trial. 

Musharraf, in an interview, had passed the buck to the Army and the apex court judges, saying they were part of the decision-making process. He also mentioned that he had hopes of justice from Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry. 

Former chief justice Saeeduzzaman Siddiqui said the recent interview of Musharraf was a calculated move to escape trail under Article 6, as the public demand was mounting pressure on the government to initiate proceedings against him. 

Siddiqui mentioned that it was the prerogative of the federal government to initiate proceedings against any person or persons and it was up to the federal government to decide against whom the proceedings would be initiated. “The federal government has to decide against how many persons the proceedings of high treason be initiated,” he said, adding: “If the federal government wants to initiate high treason proceedings against one person then the court hearing the case would decide who else should also be served notices.” 

He mentioned that if Musharraf argued before the court that the judges who had validated his acts should also be tried then the court would assess the legality and worth of such an allegation. 

Justice (retd) Wajihuddin Ahmad, another judge of the Supreme Court who had refused to take oath under the PCO in 2000 and whose father was among the three dissenters of the famous Zulfikar Ali Bhutto case which sent Bhutto to the gallows, told this correspondent that Musharraf and his aides were trying to create confusion over Article, so that the dictator could not be tried in a court of law. 

He said that under the High Treason Punishment Act, 1973, only an authorised federal government official could initiate proceedings of high treason against any person. 

Talking about the confusion created by Musharraf regarding those who validated his acts, Justice (retd) Wajihuddin said the acts of October 12, 1999, had been provided immunity with the 17th Amendment, therefore, they were part of the Constitution, but the acts of November 3, 2007, were not part of the Constitution and it would be up to the court to decide who should be served notices. “If Musharraf says that corps commanders and judges were with him then the court would take cognisance of such statement and decide accordingly,” said the former judge. 

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