Islamabad High Court (IHC) suspended non-bailable arrest warrants issued against former president General Pervez Musharraf (retd) in Lal Masjid cleric Abdul Rashid Ghazi's murder case, here on Thursday. A single-member bench comprising Justice Amir Farooq took up the case. Malik Tahir Mehmood, Musharraf's counsel, pleaded before the court to suspend non-bailable arrest warrants while granting him exemption from appearing before the court in this case as he had been given permanent exemption in Akber Bugti case as well.
The lawyer informed the court that the report was also submitted to the trial court but it did not respond yet. However, Tariq Assad, the opposition's lawyer, urged the court not to grant exemption to former president since he never appeared before the court.
The Islamabad Police registered an FIR against Musharraf in September 2013 for allegedly killing Lal Masjid cleric Abdul Rashid Ghazi and his mother on directions of the IHC. An FIR registered on the complaint of Ghazi's son Haroon Rashid against Musharraf under Pakistan Penal Code relating to murder and abetment stated that Musharraf had ordered a military operation in Lal Masjid in which Abdul Rashid Ghazi and his mother were killed.
According to police, challan submitted to session judge in October 2013, Gen Musharraf (retd) had been declared innocent. Subsequently, a hearing on a plea seeking complete exemption of the accused from the court would be conducted on July 27.