Abdur Rashid Ghazi murder case
Judge orders sureties to ensure presence of the accused in court on March 16 or their bail bonds will be cancelled
ISLAMABAD: A local court on Saturday issued a non-bailable arrest warrant for former president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf in the murder case of Lal Masjid cleric Abdur Rashid Ghazi.
Ghazi Rashid was killed along with 90 students in a military crackdown on the Red Mosque launched in 2007. At least 11 security men were also killed.
Additional Sessions Judge Pervez Qadir dismissed Musharraf’s application for permanent exemption from personal appearance in the court on medical grounds and ordered his arrest and production in the court on March 16.
The judge also ordered issuance of show cause notices to the sureties of the accused and directed them to ensure Musharraf’s presence in the court on the next date of hearing, failing which their bail bonds would be forfeited.
Musharraf’s counsel said they would challenge the order, Geo News reported.
The 72-year-old former president has never appeared before the court during the previous 55 hearings. This is the fourth non-bailable arrest warrant against him.
Tariq Asad, lawyer for the slain cleric, told the court that the former president was “very much healthy and had been appearing on various 'talk shows' on several TV channels of the country.” The judge observed that the accused should not be allowed to skip court appearances on “fancy and flimsy grounds”.
Tariq Asad argued that the medical report was not supporting Musharraf’s version, as there was no clear cut information or detail about incapacity or inability of his movement.
“The accused considers himself above the law being ex-army chief and has no regard and respect for the orders of the court,” he added.
The court order said: "After hearing arguments and perusal of medical certificate and going through placed record and hearing the counsel, it appears that nowhere it is mentioned in the medical certificate that the accused cannot move or is capable of traveling and appearing before the court. It is responsibility of the court to look into the matter judiciously.”
The judge further observed: "Keeping in view the above facts and circumstances I am of considered view that the learned counsel for the accused has miserably failed to substantiate his prayer for exemption of the accused from personal appearance/exemption before the trial court with tangible and cogent reasons.
Hence I do not find any reason to allow this application, as no extraordinary circumstance/reason exists in the application of the petitioner supported with medical certificate.
Therefore, his application stands dismissed. Non-bailable warrant for petitioner be issued for 16-03-2016.
Let show cause notices be issued to the sureties of the accused and they be directed to ensure his presence in the court on the next date of hearing, failing which their bail bonds would be forfeited.
After appearance before the trial court, the petitioner however is at liberty to move a fresh application, if he desires so, on fresh grounds."
Last month, Musharraf was acquitted by an anti-terrorism court in the 2006 murder case of Baloch nationalist leader Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, the first major relief to the ex-military ruler entangled in several high-profile cases.
