How can a commando be so afraid to return home: Pak SC to Musharraf

Pakistan's Supreme Court on Wednesday gave former military ruler Pervez Musharraf a deadline until Thursday afternoon to present himself in the court in the lifetime disqualification case against him, taunting that how can a commando be so afraid to return to his country.

Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Saqib Nisar, who is heading a three-judge bench hearing Musharraf's appeal against his 2013 disqualification by the Peshawar High Court, warned that if the former president does not show up in court by 2 pm on Thursday, a decision would be taken in the case according to law, reports PTI.

Last week, the apex court had allowed Musharraf, 74, to file nomination papers to contest the July 25 general elections on the condition that he would appear in person before the court on in Lahore to attend the hearing in the case.

Although Musharraf's nomination papers for Chitral's NA-1 seat were submitted earlier this week, the former dictator did not appear in court on Wednesday despite SC orders that his national identity card (CNIC) and passport were unblocked in order to facilitate his travel. Expressing strong displeasure when Musharraf did not turn up and told the court through his lawyer that he needed guarantees for security, justice Nisar said, "The Supreme Court is not bound to Musharraf's terms."

"We've already said that if Musharraf returns, he will provided with security. We are not bound to provide a written guarantee."

"If Pervez Musharraf is a commando, he should show us by returning, instead of continuously parroting that he will return like a politician," he said.

"Why does Musharraf need protection, what is he so afraid of ?" he said.

“How can a commando be so afraid? Musharraf would say that he has evaded death many times but he was never afraid," he said.

When's Musharraf's lawyer Qamar Afzal informed the court that the former dictator is unwell, the chief justice said, "Come in an ambulance. He should at least come. Had he been a commando, he would have showed valour and come to the court."

The chief justice said that Musharraf who did not feel afraid when he was taking over the country in 1999, is now afraid of facing the courts. Musharraf, the former Pakistan Army chief, began his military service in 1964 as a commando of the Northern Light Infantry.

He also participated in the 1971 war as a company commander in a commando battalion.

When the lawyer said that Musharraf was suffering from Parkinson's disease, the chief justice said, "How will he show off his fist in the election if he has Parkinson's?"