Former president Musharraf handed death penalty.

ISLAMABAD -- In an unprecedented move, a special court hearing the high treason case against former military dictator General (r) Pervez Musharraf has sentenced him to death for holding the Constitution in abeyance by imposing a state of emergency on November 3, 2007. After hearing the concluding arguments on Tuesday, the three member bench headed by Peshawar High Court (PHC) Chief Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth and comprising Justice Nazar Akbar of the Sindh High Court (SHC) and Justice Shahid Karim of the Lahore High Court (LHC), announced the verdict in the case which was pending since December 2013.

The verdict was split 2-1 and the detailed judgement will be issued with in the next two days. The former military ruler is currently residing and under treatment in Dubai. According to the Article 6 of the Constitution, any person who abrogates or subverts or suspends or hold in abeyance, or attempts or conspires to abrogate or subvert or suspend or hold in abeyance the Constitution by use of force or show force or by any other unconstitutional means shall be guilty of high treason. Moreover, the punishment for high treason is death or life imprisonment, according to the High Treason (Punishment) Act, 1973.

It is worth mentioning here that the former president can appeal against the verdict in the Supreme Court (SC) through his counsel. If the apex court upholds the special court's verdict, then only the president possesses the constitutional authority under Article 45 to pardon a death row defendant. Although the...