CJ’s gesture to Musharraf perplexes Sharif

islamabad — Ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Friday questioned a Supreme Court directive that allows former president Pervez Musharraf to file his nomination papers to contest the July 25 general elections.

Speaking to the media here, Sharif said it was beyond comprehension that Musharraf had been permitted to contest the elections, reports Dawn News.

“How could the chief justice extend such an offer to someone accused of high treason?” Sharif asked. “Where are all those cases? It is beyond my understanding,” he remarked while talking to the journalists outside accountability court.

“I was disqualified for life while a person who commits murder, violates constitution and wreaks havoc with the lives of people is exempted from any consequences,” he remarked.

Sharif said that Musharraf was nominated in Bugti murder case, house arrest of judges, May 12 bloodshed and violating constitution. “I am astonished that under which constitution Musharraf has been allowed to take part in general elections. How can a person be above the law and constitution?,” he questioned.

“While Musharraf has been offered such a relaxation, my plea for just three days exemption from appearing in court was turned down,” the ousted premier said, adding that he had wished to visit his ailing wife Kulsoom Nawaz, who is currently undergoing treatment for cancer in London. The directive allows Musharraf

to file his nomination papers on the condition that he would appear in person before the Supreme Court on June 13 in Lahore to attend a hearing. On Thursday, a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar took up Musharraf’s plea against his 2013 disqualification for life by the Peshawar High Court.

Following his disqualification in April 2013, Musharraf ’s nomination papers for National Assembly seat in the polls on the grounds that he had suspended the constitution on November 3, 2007.