ISLAMABAD: Supreme Court Justice Athar Minallah emphasized the need for accountability, stating that judges who provided legal validation for the martial law imposed by the late military dictator Gen Pervez Musharraf should face trial in court.
These remarks surfaced during the apex court’s session addressing appeals against the Lahore High Court’s January 13, 2020 ruling, which declared the December 17, 2019 death sentence handed to Musharraf unconstitutional in the high treason case. Alongside Justice Minallah, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa, Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, and Justice Aminuddin Khan were part of the bench. Notably, Musharraf himself was among the petitioners contesting the Special Court’s decision.
The discussion touched upon Musharraf’s imposition of a state of emergency on November 3, 2007, where he subjected key judges to house arrest across Islamabad and Pakistan.
Justice Minallah advised against delving too deeply into the past, prompting the chief justice to stress the importance of focusing on the present.
Echoing the sentiment, Justice Minallah highlighted a crucial point: the judiciary had granted legitimacy to Musharraf’s actions when he violated the Constitution on October 12, dissolving assemblies. He suggested the need for a trial concerning the judges who validated Musharraf’s martial law at that time.
Raising a pertinent question, he queried why legal action was initiated solely regarding the emergency imposed on November 3, 2007, overlooking the military’s arrest of Supreme Court judges.
