ISLAMABAD, June 15: The trial of former military ruler General (retired) Pervez Musharraf in the judges’ detention case formally commenced on Saturday in which the Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) Islamabad charge sheeted him.

Mr Musharraf, however, pleaded not guilty and filed an application for his acquittal in the case. ATC judge Syed Kausar Abbas Zaidi resumed proceedings in the sub-jail of the Chak Shahzad farmhouse.

The case is based on a complaint filed by advocate Mohammad Aslam Ghumman against Mr Musharraf, which was registered with the Secretariat police on August 11, 2009. Mr Musharraf was accused of confining over 60 judges of the superior courts after imposing an emergency on November 3, 2007.

However, on May 18, 2013, Mr Ghumman had announced that he would not pursue his complaint.

The state’s counsel Amir Nadeem Tabish was then responsible for the prosecution of Mr Musharraf, but he remained absent from the court as the police did not deploy enough security to escort him to the farmhouse sub-jail.

The court indicted Gen Musharraf under sub-section 6 of section 7 of the Anti Terrorism Act (ATA), and under Section 344 of the Pakistan Panel Code (PPC) for confining judges in their houses and for restraining them from administering justice.

The ATC Judge also summoned the 23 prosecution witnesses on June 21. Most of the prosecution witnesses are lawyers who had earlier recorded their statements before the Joint Investigation Team (JIT). The application which Mr Musharraf filed through his counsel would also be taken up on June 21.

It has been filed under section 265 of the criminal procedure code (CrPC), and seeks acquittal of Gen Musharraf due to lack of evidence.

Legal experts said the prosecution witnesses under CrPC would appear before court to record their statements, and would be cross-examined by the counsel of Gen Musharraf.

The special public prosecutor would provide necessary evidence to the judge for a just conclusion of the matter.

After completing the exercise, the ATC may either convict the former president or acquit him from the judges’ detention case, they added.

According to Ilyas Siddiqui, counsel of Gen Musharraf, the prosecution during the trial will have to prove the allegations leveled against his client.

He said there was no evidence against Mr Musharraf, who had initially been booked under section 344 of the PPC which was a simple bailable offence.

The counsel added that the inclusion of Section 7 of ATA was injust as Mr Musharraf had been a president, and was not a terrorist.”

He said the prosecution had insufficient evidence and Gen Musharraf might be acquitted from the case. The prosecution had already admitted that they lacked substantial evidence against Musharraf.

All they had was clipping of newspapers, statements of 23 lawyers and a compress disc (CD) with the recording of former premier Yousaf Raza Gillani in which he had announced the release of the judges. However, Advocate Mohammad Anwaar Dar, who is a prosecution witness in the case, said the investigators could collect strong evidence against Mr Musharraf if they took the matter seriously.

He said lawyers would appear before the ATC to record their statements and were ready to be cross-examined, but it was strange that those who had been detained in 2007 (i.e. the judges) had not recorded any statement so far. “Their non-cooperation with the prosecution may benefit Musharraf,” he added.