Tuesday, August 04, 2009
By Masood Rehman

ISLAMABAD: Former president Pervez Musharraf can be tried on charges of high treason if parliament passes a resolution by simple majority, said Attorney General Sardar Latif Khosa on Monday.

The attorney general made the comments while addressing journalists after the oath-taking ceremony of Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali at the Supreme Court (SC). Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry swore in Justice Jamali as an SC judge.

Khosa said following the SC verdict declaring the November 2007 emergency unconstitutional, Musharraf could be charged with high treason but only through a parliamentary resolution – which, if approved, would make it necessary for the federal government to take action. However, he said it was for parliament to decide if action was to be taken against Musharraf in light of the SC verdict.

The attorney general said misconduct references, under Article 209 of the constitution, would be sent to the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) against judges who took oath under the PCO while the emergency was imposed.

He said SC judges Faqir Muhammad Khokhar and M Javed Buttar also took oath during the emergency “in violation of an SC order … references against them would also be sent to the SJC”. He said the references against judges affected by the SC decision would be filed by the chief justice.

He said according to rules, the SJC was the platform where references of misconduct were heard against serving judges. He said if a judge resigned before or during SJC proceedings, the council dropped the case against him, and “he stands eligible for all post-retirement benefits”. He said a judge against whom a reference had been filed remained an arbiter until the completion of the SJC proceedings.

He said if judges – who did not quit before or during the SJC proceedings – were found guilty of misconduct, they were stripped of their pension and other post-retirement benefits.

Khosa said the 37 ordinances promulgated by Musharraf would soon be sent to parliament for a decision on whether they should be disposed of or kept intact. He said the SC had asked for a briefing on the ordinances the government intended to keep intact.

The SC – in a short order on the November 2007 emergency – settled all matters directly related to the judiciary, and referred the 37 ordinances to parliament for a decision on their fate.

SJC: Earlier, senior-most judge of the SC Justice Javed Iqbal said the SJC could meet within a week to decide the fate of PCO judges.