Musharraf is in the hot seat but will he be prosecuted?

An Islamabad session court judge has directed police officials to file an FIR (First Information Report - meaning registering a criminal case against someone) against former President Gen (R) Pervez Musharraf for detaining seven of the superior court judges and their families in their houses after proclaiming emergency on Nov 3, 2007.

The seven judges including the Chief Justice had passed a verdict against the emergency and instructed all judges not to take fresh oath from the General.

According to DAWN, the case had not been registered till late in the evening, but a senior police officer told the paper that it would ‘definitely be done within a few hours’.

Sources told the newspaper that an emergency meeting was called in the interior ministry, which was attended by senior officers of the interior and law ministries and officers of police and their legal branch. Details of the meeting remain unknown but it is yet another bushfire the ousted General now faces in a span of less than a month.

On July 31 the Supreme Court ruled against his emergency of Nov 3, 2007 making all steps taken by him thereafter illegal and unconstitutional. In the absence of his indemnity by the previous parliament or from the existing parliament, defending his emergency acts is a steep hill to climb for the ex-general.

In the presence of a strong independent media now (ironically it was him to created it), a strong and popular public support for his nemesis Nawaz Sharif and a somewhat a neutral army chief of staff, it is likely that Musharraf may be forced to have his day in court. What transpires is any body's guess.

Some observers strongly feel that the military won't let its ex-chief go through the humiliation. A similar attempt of army humiliation by then PM Nawaz Sharif in 1999 had triggered a mutiny by a catorie of Generals led by Gen Mehmood, Gen Usmani et al culminating in a coup that overthrew the civilian strongman and brought Gen Musharraf into power on October 12, 1999.

Chief of Army Staff Musharraf had been ordered retired while he was on his way back from Sri Lanka and replaced by Sharif's handpicked Gen Zia uddin - then ISI chief and reportedly a relative. The Generals did not like it and rebelled against Musharraf''s replacement. The Triple One Brigade did the rest.

Sources told Dawn that a case would be registered against the former president under section 344 of the Pakistan Penal Code which says:

‘Whoever wrongfully confines any person for ten days or more, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term, which may extend to three years, and shall also be liable to fine.’

If security czar Rehman Malik is to believed, an extradition treaty is in the works between UK and the Pakistan government which, if implemented soon, may force the British government to force Gen (R) Musharraf go back to Pakistan and face the criminal charges.

If the agreement is "delayed for some reasons" or there is deliberate foot-dragging, legally then it won't be easy to make the retired General come back and face the charges but the British government may find it politically incorrect to let Musharraf continue to stay put in UK. He may then be nudged to cross the Atlantic or take up the Saudi offer for a well-cushioned self-exile in the kingdom.

The court order against the ex-President was passed by additional District and Sessions judge Mohammad Akmal Khan in response to petitions filed by advocate Aslam Ghuman about five months ago.

The judge in his short order observed that the respondent (Mr Musharraf) was liable to be tried under various legal and criminal provisions.

The court has already adjourned the case for twelve times in a span of five months and further adjournment over the issue was denied, he added.

The plaintiff requested the court to direct Islamabad police to register the case against the ex-President after the office of Senior Superintendent of Police did not record his complaint. Then the judge ordered the additional station house officer (SHO) of the secretariat police station (who was present in court) to register a case against the former president.

The plaintiff's petition says that Gen (R) Musharraf illegally imposed Provisional Constitution Order on Nov 3, 2007, and detained Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry and 60 other judges of superior judiciary along with their families after they had refused to take oath under the PCO.

The petition seeks the trial of Musharraf and others who played a role in implementing the PCO.

A large number of former and present parliamentarians, bureaucrats and police officials were also likely to be named in the case, sources told Dawn.