ISLAMABAD: A special court seized with the high treason case on Wednesday declared former president retired Gen Pervez Musharraf a proclaimed offender.

The three-member bench comprising Justice Mazhar Alam Khan Minakhel, Justice Syeda Tahira Safdar and Justice Mohammad Yawar Ali directed the prosecutor to advertise the proclamation in newspapers besides placing posters outside the residences of the accused and prominent places.

The court directed the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to produce Mr Musharraf before it within a month. The FIA through a report informed the court that an official visited the residences of Mr Musharraf in Karachi and Islamabad but did not find him. The report quoting the immigration record said that the accused had left the country in March.

The court asked the prosecution to provide until July 12 details of the moveable and immovable properties owned by Mr Musharraf. The court may attach his properties in case of his continued absence from case proceedings.

Special court may order attachment of the ex-president’s properties in case of his continued absence

It is not the first time Mr Musharraf has been declared a proclaimed offender. His proclamation was also issued in the murder cases of Benazir Bhutto and Akbar Bugti and the judges’ detention case before he returned to Pakistan in 2013.

When a Rawalpindi-based anti-terrorism court hearing the Benazir case commenced the process to attach Mr Musharraf’s properties, his spouse filed a petition in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) and claimed ownership of their Chak Shahzad farmhouse. The court issued a stay order and the case is pending for adjudication.

On April 20, the special court issued non-bailable warrants for Mr Musharraf. He was indicted on March 31, 2014.

Trial proceedings in the treason case remained suspended for over a year after the special court ordered the FIA to implicate abettors in the case.

However, the Supreme Court in February this year asked the special court to continue with the trial. Subsequently, the special court on March 8 summoned Gen Musharraf to record his statement under Section 342 of the Criminal Procedure Code. However, Mr Musharraf left the country days before he was required to testify before the special court on March 31.

Gen Musharraf left the country on March 18, soon after the Supreme Court upheld the Sindh High Court’s directions to remove his name from the exit control list (ECL).

Interior Minister Chau­dhry Nisar Ali Khan annou­ncing removal of his name from ECL had said that the former military dictator had been allowed to leave the country in the light of the orders of superior courts.

Published in Dawn, May 12th, 2016