Musharraf banned from contesting for public office

In this Monday, April 15, 2013 photo, Pakistan's former President and military ruler Pervez Musharraf addresses his party supporters at his house in Islamabad, Pakistan. Police arrested former Pakistani military ruler Pervez Musharraf overnight at his home in the capital, where he had holed up following a dramatic escape from court to avoid being detained, officials said Friday. (AP Photo/B.K. Bangash)

The Peshawar High Court on Tuesday ordered a life ban on former military dictator Pervez Musharraf from contesting any election. A four-member bench passed the ruling in response to the former army chief’s appeal against rejection of his nomination papers for the May 11 National Assembly elections from Chitral.

In its order, the Court said since Gen. (retd) Musharraf had abrogated the Constitution twice — first in 1999 by carrying out a coup to oust a democratically elected government, and then in 2007 by declaring Emergency and detaining 60 superior judges — he cannot ever contest for elections to the National Assembly, Senate or any of the provincial assemblies.

Chitral was the lone constituency — out of four for which he had filed nominations — where his papers were initially cleared by the Returning Officer (RO). However, his nomination was rejected by an election tribunal on a lawyer’s appeal.His papers for three other constituencies — Islamabad, Karachi and Kasur — had been rejected at the scrutiny level by the respective ROs and the decisions upheld on appeal.

Also, on Tuesday, an anti-terrorism court in Rawalpindi ordered a fortnight-long judicial remand for him in the Benazir Bhutto assassination case and allowed the Baloch police to question him on ex-Chief Minister Akbar Bugti’s murder.