Everything was fine in the morning, says PHC CJ

PESHAWAR: Peshawar High Court (PHC) Chief Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth on Friday said he only watched sports, particularly wrestling, on television.

He made the remark when senior lawyer Moazzam Butt praised him for staying calm in the face of a campaign against him on the electronic and social media after his verdict as head of the special court that awarded former military ruler, General (R) Pervez Musharraf, the death penalty in the high treason trial for abrogating the Constitution. Chief Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth wondered as to what had happened and asked Moazzam Butt and other lawyers that everything was fine when he was coming to the court. The Chief Justice remarked that he does not watch television channels. He said that occasionally he watched sports channels, particularly the wrestling matches.

By his comment, he meant he was unaware of the huge interest in the special court's judgement in the Musharraf case and the criticism of the verdict given by the three-member bench as he doesn't watch TV channels.

Moazzam Butt on Friday appeared in the court of Chief Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth in a case at the Peshawar High Court and appreciated him for some of his judgements, particularly the one concerning Musharraf.

The lawyers in Peshawar and rest of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have generally backed the PHC chief justice's judgement in the Musharraf case and criticized the military spokesman's statement against him.