Al Wakeelo
Your Digital Lawyer, Always on Duty
Initializing Secure Chambers
Your Digital Lawyer, Always on Duty
Initializing Secure Chambers
Petitioner: Mian MUHAMMAD NAWAZ SHARIF And Other VS Respondent: THE STATE
Court Name: Sindh High Court Judge(s): Sarmad Jalal Osmany, Wahid Bux Brohi, Sayed Saeed Ashhad Title: Mian MUHAMMAD NAWAZ SHARIF And Other vs THE STATE Case No.:SpI. Cr.A.T. Appeals Nos. 43, 46 and 50 of 2000 Appeal No. 46/2000 Appeal
JUDGMENT
Reported As: K.L.R. 2002 Criminal Cases 66 Result: N/A Judgment JUDGMENT WAHID BUX BROHI, J.- The above-mentioned S.I.Cr. A.T. Appeals have arisen from the judgment dated 6.4.2000 delivered by the A.T. Court No. I, Karachi in S.I. Case No. 385/99-State Vs. Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and six others whereby appellant Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif was convicted of the offences of hijacking and terrorism under Section 402-B, PPC and Section 7(ii) of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997 respectively and sentenced to different terms. The sentences awarded by the Trial Court, as recorded in the judgment, run as under:- "In view of above position this Court convict(s) the accused Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif under Section 402B, PPC and sentence(s) him to undergo R.I. For life and to pay a fine of Rs.5,00,000/- (Rupees Five Lac), In case of non-payment of fine the accused shall undergo R.I. For 5 years. The entire property of accused Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif is confiscated to Government of Pakistan. This Court also convicts the accused under Section 7(ii) of A.T. Act and sentence(s) him to suffer imprisonment for life and to pay a fine of Rs.5,00,000/- (Rupees Five Lac) along with forfeiture of his entire property, In case of non-payment of fine the accused shall undergo R.I. For 5 years. This
---
## Page 2
Court also directs the accused that he Should pay a compensation of Rs.20,00,000/- (Rupees Twenty Lac) under Section 544-A, Cr.P.C, for all the passengers of the aircraft PK-805, which shall be distributed among them in equal shares. All the sentences are to run concurrently. The accused is entitled for the benefit of Section 382-B, Cr.P.C." 2. The learned Trial Court acquitted respondents/co- accused Mian Shahbaz Sharif, Syed Ghous AN Shah, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Rana Maqbool Ahmed, Saif-ur-Rehman Khan and Muhammad Saeed Mehdi. 3. Appellant/accused Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif feeling aggrieved and dissatisfied with his conviction by the learned Trial Court and the sentences awarded to him challenged the same by filing an appeal under Section 25(1) of the Anti- Terrorism Act, 1997, 'which was registered as Special Criminal A.T. Appeal No. 43/2000. The State also felt aggrieved and dissatisfied with the quantum of sentence awarded to accused/appellant Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and consequently filed an appeal under Section 25(4) of the Anti- Terrorism Act, 1997 for enhancement of the sentence to death, which was registered as Special Criminal Appeal No. 50/2000. The State also filed an appeal against the order of acquittal of respondents/co-accused, (1) Mian Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif, (2) Syed Ghous Ali Shah, (3) Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, (4) Rana Maqbool Ahmed, (5) Saif-ur-Rehman Khan, and (6) Muhammad Saeed Mehdi under Section 25(4) of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997, which was registered as Special Criminal A.T. Acq. Appeal No. 46/2000. 4. All the aforesaid Appeals were admitted to regular hearing and after hearing the learned counsel for parties, and in one case the respondent Shahid Khaqan Abbasi in person, the same were disposed of by a common short order on 30.10.2000 whereby as per the unanimous decision of this Court, S.I. Cr. A.T. Appeals Nos. 46/2000 and 50/2000 were dismissed and vide majority decision in S.I. Cr. A.T. Appeal No. 43/2000, (Saiyed Saeed Ashhad, C.J. And Wahid Bux Brohi, J. Concurring) the conviction of appellant Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif was maintained with modification of sentence and the following Court order was pronounced:- "ORDERJDF THE COURT As a result of the foregoing, the Court orders as under:- (1) Special Cr. A.T. Acq. Appeal No. 46/2000 stands dismissed. (2) Special Cr. A.T. Appeal No. 50/2000 is also dismissed. (3) In Special Cr.A.T. Appeal No. 43/2000, appellant Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif is convicted for offence punishable under Section 402B, PPC r/w Section 7(ii) of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997 and sentenced as under:- (i) He shall undergo imprisonment for life, (ii) Pay a fine of Rs.5,00,000/00 and in default in payment thereof to undergo further R.I. For five years; and (iii) His movable and/or immovable property shall stand forfeited to the Government to the extent of value of Rs.500 million. Sd/- SAIYED SAEED ASHHAD, C.J. Sd/- WAHID BUX BROHI, J." 5. It is pertinent to mention here that one of the members of the Bench, Sarmad Jalal Osmany, J. Recorded his dissenting note with regard to Cr.A. T. Appeal No. 43 of 2O0O which runs as under:- "I have gone through the short order proposed to-be delivered by the Hon'ble Chief Justice and concurred with by my learned brother Wahid Bux Brohi, J. I agree with their conclusions in dismissing Appeals Nos. 46/2000 and 50/2000. However, for the reasons to be recorded later, in Appeal No. 43/2000, I find that appellant Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif is only guilty of the offence of abduction punishable under Section 365, PPC. Accordingly, in the circumstances of the case, I
---
## Page 3
convict him of said offence and sentence him to undergo three years' R.I. I would also suffer him to pay a fine to the extent of Rs.500 million and in default thereof to undergo R.I. For a further period of six months. The benefit of Section 382-B, Cr.P.C, is allowed to the appellant." 6. The following are the detailed reasons for the above order. 7. The First Information Report of this incident was lodged at Airport Police Station on 10.11.1999 at 1900 hours by way of a written complaint made by It. Col. Atiq-uz-Zaman Kavani addressed to SHO, Airport Police Station, Karachi. The contents of the said letter/complaint were incorporated as Crime No. 201/99 and verbatim in the FIR Book maintained under Section 154, Cr.P.C, by Choudhry Muhammad Shabhir SIP, the duty officer at Police Station Airport, Karachi, It would be advantageous to reproduce the text thereof for the purpose of contents of the FIR, which runs as under:- "To, S.H.O. Airport Police Station, Karachi. I, Lt. Col. Atiq-uz-Zaman Kayani s/o Raja Khan Zaman Kayani (Late) report as follows:- I am serving as Protocol Officer with Headquarters Karachi. On 12th Oct., 1999 at about 1800 hours, I reached Quaid-e-Azam International Airport Karachi to tie up the arrangements for the reception of COAS General Pervez Musharraf, who was scheduled to return from Colombo after an Official visit to Sri Lanka by a routine PIA Flight PK-805 which was to land at Quid-e-Azam International Airport Karachi. The estimated time of arrival (ETA) of this flight was 1855 hours. At about 1840 hours Corps Commander 5 Corps Lieutenant General Muzaffar H. Usmani along with Major Zaffarullah Khan Wazir arrived at the airport. I along with Brigadier Tariq Ali Khan Commander Logistic Area and' Brigadier Naveed Nassar, Commander ASF, received the Corps Commander. I came to know at the Airport that Flight PK-805 has been refused permission to land at its destination i.e. Karachi Airport by ATC. The Karachi Airfield was closed, runway lights were snatched off and runway was physically blocked by parking crash tender vehicles at three different places. While other Flight Scheduled to land at Karachi were diverted to Sukur an Nawabshah. Flight PK-805 was refused landing even a Nawabshah, which was the planned alternate airfield of Flight P 805. I also came to know that Flight PK-805 was ordered not land any where in Pakistan. Despite critical law fuel endurance th pilot had been ordered to proceed to a foreign Country at his ow risk. Late on after landing of Flight PK-805 at 1948 Hours, I cam to know that only 10 Minutes fuel was left which showed an intend and criminal conspiracy to cause the plane to crash thus physically eliminate and murder C.O.A.S.. General Pervez Musharraf and passengers by an act of terrorism of hijacking with an intent to cause crash of plane by lack of fuel for the reason as no airfield was allowed to be open for its landing, In this manner the conspiracy was to physically eliminate and murder C.O.A.S. General Pervez Musharraf and 198 passengers on board Flight PK- 805 with deliberate criminal intent which is apparent from the act, conduct and orders/conversation of persons including the then Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif. At about 1900 hours the then advisor to Prime Minister on Sindh Affairs Syed Ghous Ali Shah and Rana Maqbool, the then I.G.P. Sindh along with their entourage arrived at Karachi Airport and proceeded to Domestic Lounge which I later learnt was to implement orders given personally by the then Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif to Syed Ghous Ali Shah. After a while D.I.G. Karachi, Mr. Muhammad Akbar and S.S.P. (East) Mr. Memon also arrived and proceeded to domestic lounge. After their arrival abnormal police activity was also observed in the vicinity of airport, It was also learnt that a heavy police contingent had been deployed at Nawabshah Airfield under the supervision of Mr. Ehsanullah Gondal, the then S.S.P. Nawabshah and Akhtar Hussain Ex-D.I.G. Sukur Range, on the orders of Ex-advisor to Prime Minister on Sindh Affairs Syed Ghous Ali Shah and Rana Maqbool Ex. I.G.P. Sindh, with orders to take General
---
## Page 4
Pervez Musharraf into custody. Flight PK-805 lands at Nawabshah. At about 1845 hours, Army troops Ex. 5 Corps Reserve arrived at Jinnah Terminal to take over A.T.C. And it was army troops Ex 5 Corps Reserve who got the runway cleared, runway lights switched on and blockade removed on army's order to facilitate landing of Flight PK-805. The A.T.C. Was instructed by the army to allow flight PK-805 to land at Karachi Airport. Approximately at 1948 hours Flight PK-805 thus landed safely at Karachi Airport. After the plane had landed under orders of army, I come to know that a criminal conspiracy was hatched by the then Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and other co-conspirators to hijack Flight PK-805 in furtherance of common criminal intent and ulterior motive to kill C.O.A.S. General Pervez Musharraf and other passengers on board to force and abduct C.O.A.S. General Pervez Musharraf with intent to wrongfully confine him in pursuance of act of terrorism so as to make the command of Pakistan Army ineffective and endangering and exposing the security of State of Pakistan to external aggression and internal subversion. Later it also come to my knowledge that Flight crew of Flight PK-805 was subjected to tremendous mental stress by receiving illegal orders of the then Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and Ex.-D.G. C.A.A. Aminullah Chaudhry through Wing Commander Faruq Secretary to Ex D.G. C.A.A. Aminullah Chaudhry and from Air Traffic Control Authorities specially Yousaf Abbas, Chief Operation Officer and Mr. Syed Aqeel Ahmed General Manger Air Traffic Services of Karachi Airport. These orders were totally illegal and destructive to safety of Flight PK-805 and fatal to the life of all passenger, on board. Flight PK-805 was subjected to this grave, dire and definite disastrous situation, on the directions of the then D.G. C.A.A. Aminullah Chaudhry, Chairman P.I.A.C. Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Syed Ghous Ali Shah, who further gave directions to all concerned Individuals and employs at Karachi Airport to prevent and to unlawfully physically obstruct safe landing of Flight PK-805 by parking three fire crash tender vehicles in the runway so as to cause crash of Flight PK-805 even if the pilot landed despite refusal of permission to land by A.T.C. These-physical obstructions on the runway at Quaid-e-Azam International Airport Karachi consisted of switching off runway lights in the full darkness which had already set in at Scheduled time of arrival i.e. 1855 Hours on 18.10.1999 on the personal orders of the then Prime Minister of Pakistan Muhammad Nawaz Sharif in active connivance and I common intent of Aminullah Chaudhry, the then D.G. C.A.A. Shahid Khakan Abbasi, the then Chairman P.I.A.C, and Rana Maqbool, the then Inspector General Police Sindh and others. The runway was obstructed by physical parking of three fire crash tender Vehicles which are long and wide enough to block the runway and at calculated distance from each other to effectively block the runway for landing. The sure disaster planned by the accused was averted only due to timely intervention of Army j authorities. After the plane had landed I came to know that in t order to achieve their, criminal and nefarious design the above- named accused persons in criminal conspiracy with each other and' other concerned individual did commit various criminal acts as stated above so as to: Firstly, engineering, conspire and cause crash of Flight PK-805 carrying on board C.O.A.S. General Pervez Musharraf, his family, P.I.A. Crew, and other Passengers totaling 198 souls/persons on board including sixty children belonging to American Schools of Karachi and Lahore with criminal intent so as to murder C.O.A.S. General Pervez Musharraf and others on board Flight PK-805 and make the command of Pakistan Army ineffective and thereby achieving successful, culmination of conspiracy against the security, integrity and defence of the State of Pakistan. Secondly, by ordering not permitting Flight PK-805 to land at any airfield in Pakistan and instead ordering the pilot captain Sarwat Hussain to take the Flight any where else out side Pakistan at his own risk despite the said pilot clearly and repeatedly informing A.T.C. Which was duly conveyed to the then Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif that he did not have sufficient fuel to go outside Pakistan. The pilot also vehemently asserted that he was not allowed the land, it would be end of the story which (sic) dead and destruction this-also conspiracy to murder C.O.A.S. General Pervez
---
## Page 5
Musharraf and other innocent passengers on board Flight PK-805. Thirdly, in the event the Flight PK-805 succeeded in landing at Karachi or Nawab Shah despite being prohibited as above to arrest and wrongfully confine C.O.A.S. General Pervez Musharraf with the help of heavy police force deployed at Karachi and Nawab Shah under the personal orders and directives of the then Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, Syed Ghous Ali Shah, the then advisor to Prime Minister on Sindh Affairs and the then Inspector General Police Sindh Rana Maqbool Ahmed and others. Fourthly, to strike terror and create a sense of fear and insecurity in the passengers and crew on board Flight PK-805, including 60 innocent children of Karachi and Lahore American Schools who were returning from Colombo to Karachi after taking part in International Swimming gala at Colombo. From the facts enumerated in this First Information Report it is revealed that the above- named accused persons namely (1) Muhammad Nawaz Sharif son of Mian Muhammad Sharif (2) Syed Ghous Ali Shah son of Nawab Ali Shah (3) Aminullah Chaudhry son of A.K. Chaudhry (4) Shahid Khakan Abbasi son of Khakan Abbasi (late) (5) Rana Maqbool Ahmed son of Ghulam Muhammad and others co-conspirators with the then Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif have committed heinous criminal offence including high treason in furtherance of a deeply routed criminal conspiracy to commit among other offences, attempted to murder C.O.A.S. General Pervez Musharraf and other innocent passengers and crew members of plane totaling 198 persons on board so as to take the command of army ineffective and endangering and exposing the security of the State of Pakistan to the external aggression and internal subversion also to obtain such results by the attempted wrongful, unlawful arrest and confinement of C.O.A.S. General Pervez Musharraf and further to cause death of 198 innocent souls/persons on board Flight PK-805 on 12.10.1999 and commit by deliberate criminal act and intent heinous act of terrorism and hijacking for which the said accused persons are liable to be dealt with in accordance with law. In order to ascertain the true fact different agencies i.e. Civil Aviation, PI A, Police, ASF, Army Authorities which were directly concerned with the incident also carried out primary probe into the matter. C.O.A.S. General Pervez Musharraf has himself given prompt public statement including on Pakistan TV describing the events relating to Flight PK-805 which are self-evident. From the fact enumerated in this report is revealed that a criminal conspiracy was hatched to hijack (plane) Flight PK-805 and furtherance of the criminal conspiracy to commit the murder of C.O.A.S. General Pervez Musharraf and 197 others on board Flight PK-805 and failing which to wrongfully arrest and confine the above-named C.O.A.S in pursuance of the act of terrorism and with intent to kill passengers on board as aforesaid, It is requested that F.I.R, be registered to this effect and necessary legal action be taken against the above-named accused persons and others found involved in the crimes. Karachi dated 10th November, 1999. Sd/- It.COL. ATIQ-UZ-ZAMAN KAYANI HEADQUARTER 5 CORPS KARACHI." 8. SHO Police Station Airport Karachi, namely Abdul Waqar Malhan received the copy of FIR at 9.00 p.m., on 10.11.1999 and took-up the investigation. He inspected the place of occurrence on pointation of complainant and prepared a memo. On 12.11.1999 he recorded the statements of PW Yousuf Abbas, Aqeel Ahmed and Wing Commander Ahmed Faruq under Section 161, Cr.P.C, and on the following day he arrested respondent/accused Syed Ghous Ali Shah, Shahid Khakan Abbasi; Rana Maqbool Ahmed and Aminullah Chaudhry (later on turned to be an approver) from Malir Cantt at 2.15 p.m. On 16.11.1999 he recorded the statements of PWs Muhammad Akbar, DIG Karachi; Ahsanullah Gondal, SP Nawabshah; Nadeem Akbar, Shah Nawaz Dara and Manzoor Ahmed. He recorded further statement of Wing Commander Ahmed Faruq on 18.11.1999. He got the statements of PWs Capt. Sarwat and DIG Muhammad Akbar recorded under Section 164, Cr.P.C, by the Judicial
---
## Page 6
Magistrate, Malir, Karachi on 18.11.1999 and on the following day he arrested appellant Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif from Malir Cantt at 12.05 midnight. He got the statements of PWs Shah Nawaz Dara, Ahsanullah Gondal and Wing Commander Ahmed Faruq recorded by the Judicial Magistrate on 20.11.1999. On 23.11.1999 District Magistrate, Malir, Karachi recorded the statement of Aminullah Chaudhry, the approver. On 24.11.1999 he (the Investigating Officer) recorded the statement of PW Nadeem Akbar, DIG Akhtar Memon and SSP Karachi East Bashir Ahmed Memon. He received the custody of respondents Mian Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif, Saeed Mehdi and Saifur Rahman at Faisal Airbase on 25.11.1999 at about 5.00 a.m. On 25.11.1999 at 2.15 p.m. He secured five audio video spools produced by Anwarul Haq, Civil Aviation Officer at the Police Station. Statement of PW Rukhsar Ahmed, SP was recorded under 'Section 164, Cr.P.C, on 27.11.1999. He recorded the statements of PWs Syed Anwar Hussain, Shamshad Ali, Gul Taj and Asadullah Shah on 28.11.1999 and on the following day he got the statement of PWs Commander Zahir and Asif recorded under Section 164, Cr.P.C, by the Judicial Magistrate. On 30.11.1999 hq recorded the statement of PWs Mushtaq Tahir Kheli and Manzoor Ahmed, Inspector Controller under Section 161, Cr.P.C. On the following day he got the statements of PWs Rukhsar and Asadullah Shaikh recorded under Section 164, Cr.P.C, by Judicial Magistrate. He secured the black-box and two spools from the office of Rasheed Bhatti, Manager Engineering Department, PIA on 3.12.1999 and on the same day at 7.15 p.m. He secured transcriptions containing 18 and 19 pages respectively from Raza Rizvi, Superintendent Electronic Department, Civil Aviation Karachi and sealed the same. He recorded the statement of PWs Azmatullah, Abdul Hameed and Khawaja Khalil on 4.12.1999 and that of PW Maqbool Ahmed Shaikh on 6.12.1 999. The statements of Muhammad Asif son of Sardar Ahmed, Syed Aqeel Ahmed, Amir Rasheed Malik and Suleman Ahtesham were recorded under Section 164, Cr.P.C, on 25.11.1999. After completing the investigation he submitted the challan in the Court of Administrative Judge, Karachi presided over by Shabhir Ahmed, J. Of this Court. On 13.1.2000 the case was received by transfer by Anti-Terrorism Court No. 1 Karachi from the Court of Administrative Judge. 9. The Anti-terrorism Court-I, Karachi framed the charge on I 19.1.2000 to which appellant/accused Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and respondents/co-accused Mian Shahbaz Sharif, Syed Ghous Ali Shah, Shahid Khakan Abbasi, Rana Maqbool Ahmed, Saifur Rahman Khan and Muhammad Saeed Mehdi pleaded not guilty. Since the Court had not taken Oath within the meaning of Section 16 of the Anti-Terrorism Act before the trial the learned Judge took Oath in accordance with law and framed the charge afresh on 26.1.2000 for offences punishable under (i) Section 402B read with Sections 109 and 114, PPC, (ii) Section 324 read with Sections 109 and 114, PPC, (iii) Section 365 read with Sections 109 and 114, PPC, and (iv) Section 7(ii) of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997, to which the above-mentioned accused persons pleaded not guilty and claimed trial. 10. At the trial, the Prosecution examined as many as 28 witnesses, namely:- (1) PW-1 Approver Aminullah Chaudhry, (2) PW-2 Syed Yousuf Abbas, Chief Operational Officer, CAA, (3) PW-3 Muhammad Akbar (Ex DIG Karachi), (4) PW-4 Muhammad Asif, Air Traffic Controller CAA, (5) PW-5 Ihsanullah Gondal (the then S.P. Nawabshah), (6) PW-6 Sayed Aqeel Ahmed Facility Operational Officer, CAA. (7) PW-7 Nadeem Akber, Ground Movement Officer, CAA, (8) PW-8 Shah Nawaz Dara, Director Flight Operation, PIA, (9) PW-9 Captain Sarwat Hussain, Pilot of PK-805, (10) PW-10 Rukhsar Ahmed, P.S.O. To Chief Minister Sindh. (11) PW-11 Bashir Ahmed. (12) PW-12 Asadullah Shaikh, Superintendent Fire Brigade, Karachi Airport. (13) PW-13 Manzoor Ahmed, Radar Controller, CAA,
---
## Page 7
(14) PW-14 Zahid. Mehmood, the then A.D.C, to P.M. (15) PW-15 Muhammad Asif, Telephone Operator PM House. (16) PW-16 Muhammad Sadiq, Telephone Operator, D.G. CAA. (17) PW-17 complainant It. Col. Atiq-uz-Zaman, PS to Commander 5 Corps-Complainant. (18) PW-18 Brigadier Nadeem Tao, PS to the COAS. (19) PW-19 Brigadier Javed Iqbal, the Military Sec. To P.M. (20) PW-20 Wing Commander Ahmed Faruq, Sec. To D.G. CAA. (21) PW-21 S.I. Choudhary Muhammad Zubair, (22) PW-22 Nazir Ahmed Mashir. (23) PW-23 Muhammad Suleman. (24) PW-24 Muhammad Younis Dhaga, SDM Malir. (25) PW-25 Manzoor Ahmed. (26) PW-26 DSP Muhammad Mehboob Khan. (27) PW-27 Zafar Ali Khan of PIA. (28) PW-28 SHO Waqar Malhan. 11. Appellant Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif as also the respondents/co-accused did not examine themselves or any other witness in defence, but in their statements recorded under Section 342, Cr.P.C, they denied all the allegations of Prosecution as per FIR and the charge framed by learned Trial Court. Arguments were heard by learned Trial Court on behalf of the Prosecution as well as the appellant and respondents/co-accused and the judgment as mentioned above was handed down whereby only the appellant/accused Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif was convicted and sentenced in terms mentioned dt para 1 above, and the remaining accused persons were acquitted. CR.A.T. APPEALS NOS. 43/2000 AND 50/2000 12. Mr. Azizullah K. Shaikh learned counsel for appellant Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif in Cr.A.T. Appeal No. 43 of 2000 raised, inter alia, the following contentions:- (i) That the FIR has been inordinately delayed inasmuch as the incident took place on 12th October, 1999 whereas the FIR was lodged on 10th November, 1999 at 1900 hours. According to learned counsel the FIR is not at all reliable having been lodged after consultation and due deliberation by the complainant with a number of authorities/agencies/persons. (ii) That the learned Trial Court has convicted the appellant on the sole testimony of approver, Aminullah Chaudhry and since his version has. Not been corroborated in material particulars in accordance with the rule consistently laid down by the superior Courts it could not be relied upon. (iii) That there was a power struggle between the appellant and COAS General Pervez Musharraf as both of them were at variance on core national issues in consequence of which a Coup d'etat had been planned by the latter. Consequently, when the appellant came to know about the existence of such Coup d'etat which in effect was put into execution after the appellant had dismissed COAS General Pervez Musharraf at 4.30 p.m. On 13.10.1999 and appointed General Ziauddin in his stead he (the appellant) ordered diversion of Flight PK-805, which was carrying COAS General Pervez Musharraf so that he could consolidate his position etc. In this respect learned counsel submitted that the appellant possessed legal power and authority to do so in…
Read the unabridged text and precedent citation network on Al Wakeelo Legal Research Platform.