The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday granted bail to former president and army chief general Pervez Musharraf in the judges' detention case. A divisional bench of the IHC comprising Justice Noor ul Haq Qureshi and Justice Riaz Ahmed Khan resumed the hearing of an appeal filed by Musharraf's counsel Advocate Ilyas Siddiqui following the cancellation of his bail application by the Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) Judge Syed Kausar Abbas Zaidi in the above said case.
The court after hearing the arguments of both the parties granted bail to Pervez Musharraf and ordered his release. The court also ordered Musharraf to deposit two surety bonds worth Rs 500,000 each. Musharraf's counsel told the court that his client's bail plea was rejected as he was not included in the investigation. "Now he has recorded his statement and completely co-operated with the investigators of the case," he said. He said that no evidence or notification was on record except a lawyer's statements. Therefore, he added, the court should grant his client bail.
Prosecutor Aimer Nadeem Tabish questioned whether Musharraf was unaware of judges' detention, and if some other forces were involved in judges' detention then what action he took against them. Musharraf had refused to inform investigators about his "other accomplices," he said. He said Musharraf fled from the court room as soon as his bail was cancelled.
The case was registered against Musharraf on August 11, 2009 on the complaint of a local advocate Chaudhry Mohammad Aslam Ghumman for confining over 60 judges of the superior courts after imposing an emergency on November 3, 2007. However, Ghumman later announced that he would not pursue the case 'in the larger public interest'.