The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday turned down a request made by former military dictator General Pervez Musharraf (retd) to dismiss the first information report (FIR) registered against him for alleged murder of Lal Masjid cleric Ghazi Abdur Rasheed. Chief Justice IHC Athar Minallah said that the FIR was registered against Musharraf in 2013 and questioned the progress of the case. "Why the trial has not yet been completed and whether Musharraf is an absconder?" he questioned.

The government lawyer responded that the case appeared in the court in 2014, and the reasons for the trial remaining incomplete are unknown. Justice Minallah also questioned the counsel for the petitioner, Pakistan Social Democratic Party, regarding its relation to the FIR registered against Musharraf. "He was the then president and that is why we are here," the lawyer responded. The court also rejected the petition filed by the political party. "If he [Musharraf] appears before the court, the case can move forward," he said.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2019