Islamabad: Beleaguered former military ruler Pervez Musharraf was today directed by a Pakistani anti-terrorism to appear personally on March 7 in connection with a case over the detention of judges in 2007. The court exempted 70-year-old Musharraf from today's hearing following a request from his lawyer Ilyas Siddiqui.
Siddiqui claimed the Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology, where Musharraf is admitted, was not providing his client's medical reports. He said the court may seek these reports on its own.
Public prosecutor Nadeem Tabish said neither Musharraf nor his guarantors were appearing in court and requested it to decide the matter on merit at the next hearing. Subsequently, the court adjourned the case till March 7.
The judges' detention case is based on an FIR registered against the former army chief in August 2009 on a complaint filed by lawyer Chaudhry Mohammad Aslam Ghumman. Ghumman asked police to initiate legal proceedings against Musharraf for detaining over 60 judges, including then Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, after imposing emergency in November 2007.
Musharraf is currently embroiled in several criminal and civil cases. The government last year formed a special court to try him on a charge of high treason for imposing emergency.
