The Supreme Court (SC) upheld on Wednesday the death sentence handed down to late former military dictator Pervez Musharraf by a special court in a high treason case.

A four-member bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa and comprising Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Aminuddin Khan and Justice Athar Minallah took up a set of appeals filed against the Lahore High Court’s (LHC) January 13, 2020 order, declaring unconstitutional the death sentence awarded to Musharraf on December 17, 2019.

The SC declared the LHC’s 2020 decision revoking Musharraf’s death sentence as null and void, and directed for notices to be sent to the former military ruler’s family, as the apex court disposed of Musharraf’s appeal for the family not following up on it after his death.

During today’s proceedings, the court was attended by Hamid Khan and Salman Safdar, the counsel for Musharraf. The court rejected the appeals, emphasising that despite efforts, Musharraf’s legal heirs could not be reached.

At the commencement of the hearing, Hamid asserted that Musharraf’s appeal against his sentence was a “criminal appeal,” while the request before the Supreme Court aimed to overturn the LHC order, characterized as a “constitutional matter.”

He urged the top court to consider both appeals separately. Chief Justice Isa then observed, “In this particular case, the Lahore High Court’s jurisdiction and appeal are distinct issues.”

The chief justice expressed the court’s preference to hear Safdar’s arguments first. Additional Attorney General Aamir Rehman, representing the state, opposed the appeal against the former president’s sentence.

When the chief justice sought clarification on whether he was opposing or supporting Musharraf’s appeal, the lawyer affirmed his opposition.

Safdar said in his arguments that there are no instructions from the former military ruler’s family. He said the family was aware of the case, further informing that they were contacted over 10 times since November, last year. “No instructions were given for, or against the case hence, I am not representing Pervez Musharraf’s family,” he stated.

Justice Mansoor Ali Shah said that the SC had also issued notices to Musharraf directly, to which Safdar added that the SC had also notified him through a newspaper advertisement. “I can provide judicial assistance on two situations,” the counsel stated. At this, Justice Mansoor Ali Shah told Safdar that he could assist the court only on the legal situation.

The treason case

In 2013, then prime minister Nawaz Sharif had initiated a treason trial against Musharraf.

On December 17, 2019, a three-judge special court, comprising Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth, Justice Nazar Akbar and Justice Shahid Karim sentenced to death the septuagenarian former military ruler under Article 6 of the Constitution of Pakistan.

The Article states that “any person who abrogates or subverts or suspends or holds in abeyance, or attempts or conspires to abrogate or subvert or suspend or hold in abeyance the Constitution by use of force or show force or by any other unconstitutional means shall be guilty of high treason.”

Read SC hears Musharraf’s appeals against death penalty

The charges against Musharraf-  who was sentenced in absentia due to illness and being out of the country -, had stemmed from his imposition of a state of emergency in 2007 and subsequently for being guilty of high treason for abrogating the Constitution.

Later that month, in 2019, the LHC constituted a full bench, headed by Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, to hear a petition filed by Musharraf who was challenging the trial against him and the formation of a special court that awarded him a death sentence on the same day the plea was moved.

It should be noted that the former president, in his petition, had also requested the LHC to halt the special court proceedings in his absentia until he recuperates and appears before the court.

Later, on January 13, 2020, the LHC quashed the former president’s death sentence by declaring the formation of the bench of the special court as “unconstitutional”.

It should be noted that both the matters, the verdict of the special court and the LHC were challenged in the SC.

The SC had observed on November 22, 2023, that the decision of a special court, awarding the death sentence to the former military ruler for high treason, was still intact and had allowed his lawyer to contact the family to find out whether or not it wanted to pursue his appeal.

Musharraf passed away in February 2023.