Former President Pervez Musharraf was on Saturday remanded to judicial custody for a fortnight by an anti-terrorism court in the Pakistani capital, a day after his arrest in a case over the imposition of emergency rule in 2007.
Judge Kausar Abbas Zaidi of the anti-terrorism court remanded the 69-year-old former military ruler to judicial custody after hearing arguments by Mr. Musharraf’s lawyer and the counsel of several persons who filed petitions against him.
Justice Zaidi briefly reserved his judgment before announcing his decision.
He directed authorities to produce Mr. Musharraf in court again on May 4.
During the hearing held at the court complex in Sector F-8 of Islamabad, Mr. Musharraf’s lawyer Qamar Afzal told the judge that he was cooperating with police officials investigating the detention of more than 60 judges during the emergency and should be remanded to judicial custody.
Mr. Afzal opposed any move to remand Mr. Musharraf to police custody, citing security concerns.
He further said Mr. Musharraf could approach the Supreme Court to appeal against the revocation of his bail by the Islamabad High Court.
Ashraf Gujjar, the counsel for those who filed petitions against Mr. Musharraf, contended he should be remanded to police custody as a fresh investigation would have to be conducted against the former President regarding the imposition of emergency.
The local administration in Islamabad will now decide whether Mr. Musharraf should be held at his farmhouse at Chak Shahzad after it is declared a “sub-jail” or at some other secure location.
Chaotic scenes were witnessed at the court complex after Mr. Musharraf’s motorcade of about 14 vehicles arrived there shortly after 10 am.
Published - April 20, 2013 12:49 pm IST
