A full bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC) has overturned the death penalty awarded to former military ruler Gen Pervez Musharraf by a special court, pointing to various irregularities in the case proceedings, also declaring illegal the formation of the special court. The case, it may be recalled, was initiated by the federal government on the direction of the Supreme Court. The LHC has held that the then prime minister had on his own approved filing of the case and approval of the Cabinet was not sought to file the case. The court also ruled that trial in absentia is violation of Article-10 of the Constitution which guarantees the right to fair trial.

The judgement has, however, attracted criticism. Questions have already begun to be raised about merits of the verdict. PPP MNA Dr Nafisa Shah issued a statement describing it as baffling. In our view, the observations made by Justice Sayyed Mazhar Ali Akbar Naqvi on the core issue of emergency declaration during an exchange with the Additional Attorney General (AAG) are quite disturbing in particular. The honourable judge remarked that "emergency is part of the Constitution," and asked the AAG "if the situation is such that the government imposes an emergency, will a treason case be filed against that government as well? Can an emergency be imposed under Article 232?" An obvious answer to the first question is no, and to the second one yes. But that is beside the point. No government can suspend the Constitution. Therein lays the rub. In its wisdom the court has chosen to ignore that basic issue. This LHC decision will always be attacked not only for its substance, but also for its structure.