SC refuses to hear Musharraf's plea against treason verdict, tells him to surrender first.

Byline: Nasir Iqbal

The Supreme Court office has refused to entertain an appeal, moved on behalf of former president retired General Pervez Musharraf against his conviction in the high treason case.

An informed source told Dawn on Friday that the court office returned the appeal on the grounds that unless the petitioner surrenders himself, his plea cannot be entertained.

Order 23, Rule 8 of the Supreme Court Rules, 1980, empowers the apex court not to accept any petition unless the convict surrenders himself to the authorities.

The counsel representing Musharraf is expected to file an appeal soon against the registrar's decision to return the petition.

On Thursday, Musharraf had moved the SC, seeking to overturn the special court's Dec 17, 2019, verdict, convicting him in the high treason case.

Moved by Barrister Salman Safdar, the petition had pleaded that the verdict should be set aside since the trial was conducted and completed in sheer violation of the Constitution as well as the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), 1898. The appeal also sought the right of audience before the SC in his physical absence as well as the suspension of the judgment in the interest of justice and fair play.

In a nutshell, the petition had pleaded that the case of the appellant was he was being tried for a constitutional crime in an entirely unconstitutional manner.

It stated that Musharraf was a highly decorated former four-star general of the Pakistan Army and had a remarkably distinguished career as a servant of this country.

He had served as an officer of the army for nearly 43 years and through honesty and hard work reached the highest echelons of service and served as the 13th chief of the army staff from October 1998 to November 2007. He was also the 10th chairman of the...