PHOTO: AFP
A special court has ordered reinvestigation into former president Pervez Musharraf’s high treason case, directing the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to record the statements of the accused anew.
In April 2014, the special court had formally charged Musharraf for imposing emergency in the country in 2007. The former president has rejected all charges against him.
In its four-page order on Friday, the special court’s three-judge bench headed by Justice Faisal Arab told the FIA to record the statements of Musharraf, Justice (retd) Abdul Hameed Dogar, ex-premier Shaukat Aziz and former law minister Zahid Hamid regarding their role in the alleged subversion of the Constitution on November 3, 2007. The court directed the agency’s investigation team to submit its report on December 17.
“In case the investigation is not completed by then, the investigation team shall submit a progress report in writing, stating the stage of the investigation, the persons whose statements have been recorded and to what extent further investigation is required,” reads the order.
On November 10, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) had also directed the federal government to reinvestigate the alleged aiders and abettors in the case.
The IHC had set aside the special court’s November 21, 2014 order to include the four names of abettors in the treason case. However, the special court has again asked the investigation team to record anew the statements of Musharraf, Dogar, Aziz and Hamid.
Legal experts believe that the special court seems to disagree with some of the observations of the IHC. The high court had also advised the investigators against being influenced by the special court’s observations during the proceedings.
In its fresh order, the special court said that the expunction of remarks made in its November 21, 2014 order did not mean that the investigators would presume that no material existed to connect Dogar, Aziz and Hamid with the offence.
The court also said the investigation team would be empowered to examine the record that was already part of the proceedings, adding that the team would also be free to examine any official record of the federal government or any other document that is made available by the persons whose statements are to be recorded.
The order states that during the course of the investigation, whatever documents are deemed relevant by the investigators could be examined. “On the basis of the fresh statements that are to be recorded, the investigation team shall be free to form an independent opinion about them in the investigation report.”
The bench clarified that the job of the investigators was limited to collecting evidence and placing it before the special court. “The investigation team, keeping in view the event which is the basis of this complaint, has to record statements of the persons who could be presumed to be associated with the commission of the alleged crime.”
Meanwhile, the special court also rejected Musharraf’s plea to constitute a joint investigation team (JIT) – comprising representatives of the Military Intelligence, the Intelligence Bureau and the FIA – to reinvestigate the high treason case.
The bench was of the view that for conducting an inquiry or investigation into a high treason case, the power vested in the FIA.
The order states that the observation of the IHC with regard to forming a JIT was not absolute and was made in passing. The hearing was adjourned until December 17.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 28th, 2015.
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