2 min readIslamabadJul 29, 2009 03:05 PM IST
First published on: Jul 29, 2009 at 03:05 PM IST
Former military ruler Pervez Musharraf today failed to respond to summons from countrys apex court to explain his decision to impose emergency in 2007 an controversial step to fire judges two years ago.
Musharraf,who is now in London as part of his extensive lecture tour,snubbed summons to appear before a 14-member bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar M Chaudhary,who had himself been a victim of the military dictator.
Neither the former head of state,who lost power last year and who has now turned a bitter critic of his democratic successors,nor his legal representatives appear before the court.
Is somebody appearing on behalf of Gen retd. Musharraf, asked the chief justice to a deathly silence in the courtroom.
Later,Khalid Ranjha,a member of the former military rulers legal team,told reporters that Musharraf did not need to personally appear in the court as he was not an accused or a respondent or a party to the matter being heard by the court.
I dont know where the idea that he Musharraf is supposed to appear in court came from, the lawyer argued.
He explained that only once a person is an accused or a party,he is to be represented by his counsel.
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