The Pakistan Bar Council has welcomed a decision by the Supreme Court of Pakistan, which restored on Wednesday the death sentence awarded to former dictator General Pervez Musharraf.
In a statement, Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) Vice-Chairman Haroon-ur-Rashid and Executive Committee Chairman Hassan Raza Pasha appreciated the top court's decision whereby a four-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa, accepted PBC's appeal against Pervaiz Musharraf in a high treason case.
The Supreme Court dismissed a judgment of the Lahore High Court from January 13, 2020, which suspended the decision of a special court that tried and sentenced Musharraf for treason.
PBC said that Musharraf usurped power after mounting a coup in October 1999 and ruled Pakistan as an army chief and then as president of Pakistan until 2008 while abrogating the Constitution of Pakistan, 1973. They said that Musharraf was determined to be guilty of high treason under Article 6 of the Constitution for subverting the Constitution of Pakistan twice, first on October 12, 1999, and again on November 3, 2007, when he imposed an emergency while suspending the Constitution. He was subsequently awarded the death sentence by a special court.
He was an absconder of Pakistani courts and was a convicted person, they said.
The PBC paid tribute to late Justice Waqar Ahmed Seth, the former Peshawar High Court chief justice, for his historic judgment in the high treason case against the dictator.
They further expressed that the Supreme Court of Pakistan has proved that the country's judiciary was independent.
"The whole legal community has welcomed this historic judgement and also demanded from the federal government to initiate the case under Article 6 against delinquents and responsible, who violated Article 5 of the Constitution of Pakistan."
They expressed that the Supreme Court had played its Constitutional role in strengthening democracy and the rule of law in the country through its historic judgment, which would strengthen the principle of supremacy of the Constitution and be remembered as an example in the political history of Pakistan.
They further said that the Pakistan Bar Council and legal fraternity had always resisted unconstitutional steps of usurpers.
Asserting that the institution of the military was very dear to the people of Pakistan as a defender of the homeland, but it must perform its duties and functions as prescribed in the Constitution and should not violate its oath. They further said that the lawyer community is committed to striving for and protecting the Constitution, the independence of the judiciary, and the rule of law in the country.
It is pertinent to note that Musharraf passed away in Dubai on February 5, 2023. He was later buried in Pakistan with military honours.