SC refutes reports of CJP influencing Pervez Musharraf's treason trial

• The SC said that the news reported were out of context and misleading.
• "The chief justice had not issued any direction of any sort to the Special Court," press release said.

The Supreme Court (SC) clarified on Wednesday that statement attributed to Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Asif Saeed Khosa regarding the former president general (retd) Pervez Musharraf is misleading.

In a press release issued today, the SC said that some misleading and out of context news were published on Tuesday by some media channels following the special court's verdict in handing out death penalty to the former president. The press release further said that the news reported by some media channels suggested that the CJP was personally involved in the progress of the case before the special court.

It added that different branches of SC had been hearing 'different aspects of the case against Musharraf and passed various orders for early disposition of the said case'. The statement clarified that during a hearing in 2015, the bench headed by the CJP and comprising Justice Sardar Tariq Masood and Justice Tariq Pervez has passed an order which said ' the special court is therefore expected to proceed with the trial of respondent No.2 with all convenient dispatch and without any unnecessary delay'.

"The Hon’ble Chief Justice had not issued any direction of any sort to the Special Court other than the judicial directions issued by the relevant Benches of the Supreme Court in the above mentioned cases which already stand published in the law reports of the country," the press release added.

A special court handed down death sentence to Musharraf in the high treason case which had been pending since 2013.