Summary PML-Q chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain as proposed amendment in Article 6 of Constitution.
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Pakistan Muslim League Quaid-e-Azam (PML-Q) chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain has proposed amendment in Article 6 of the Constitution of Pakistan.
The PML-Q chief on Tuesday sent the draft of the proposed amendment to the Senate Secretariat.
According to the proposed draft, the word ‘high treason’ should be replaced with ‘crime against the state’ in sub-sections 1, 2 and 3 of Article 6 of the 1973 Constitution of Pakistan.
Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain said that the word ‘treason’ reflects the impression that an accused has joined enemies of the country.
He also suggested removing such words from sections 121 and 130 of Pakistan Penal Code and said that change should also be made in Criminal Law Act 1973.
Earlier on Tuesday , a petition was filed to the special court against calling former army chief General (r) a traitor. The petition was filed by Akhtar Shah Advocate while the federal government and Pervez Musharraf had been made respondents.
The petitioner prayed the court that word abrogator of constitution and not traitor be used against former president Pervez Musharraf.
The petition says the word traitor has earned defamation to army. In order to save army from further infamy, it is imperative that Pervez Musharraf be not declared traitor.
He requested the court to issue orders for stopping the use of word traitor against Musharraf in media and other places.
On Monday, the PML-Q chief said that using word ‘high treason’ in the Musharraf case was not suitable.
Talking to media outside Parliament House, he said that violator of Constitution could be used instead of traitor as an army chief could never be a traitor. He said the word ‘traitor’ is used for those who join the enemies of the country.
Chudhry Shujaat Hussain suggested that the word ‘traitor’ should be deleted from the Constitution.
Meanwhile, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain said if the government seriously wanted to initiate the trial against Pervez Musharraf then it should try him as well as his aides for the 12th October 1999 coup, and not just the 3rd November 2007 emergency. He also offered himself for trial alongside the former military ruler.
Chaudhry Shujjat Hussain said he had already presented his name and former chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, former army chief Ashfaq Pervez Kayani and Pervez Ilahi could also be summoned in Musharraf case.
The 70-year-old former president Pervez Musharraf is currently under treatment at Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology (AFIC), Rawalpindi. He was rushed to the military hospital last Thursday after falling ill while being taken to hear treason charges against him at the tribunal in Islamabad.
Initially, the special court exempted him from appearance for one day and then until Monday.
In Monday s hearing, the court directed to submit medical report of the former military ruler.
The enveloped medical record of former president Parvez Musharraf was presented to the special court on Tuesday. The medical report was prepared by senior doctors of the Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology (AFIC).
The court adjourned the hearing until Wednesday to allow time to assess the doctors report.
Justice Faisal Arab, who heads the three-member bench, said in his remarks Tuesday: "We will give an opportunity to both sides to examine (the report) and then we will decide accordingly."
Ahmad Raza Kasuri, a lawyer for Musharraf, told reporters that owing to the complexity of the medical issues the matter could only be debated once both sides had been given time to assess the report.
According to sources, the medical report revealed that three valves of Musharraf’s heart are blocked while he is suffering from kidney disease as well.
The court will announce its decision on medical report of General (r) Pervez Musharraf on January 9.
Musharraf s camp says the treason allegations, which relate to his imposition of emergency rule in November 2007, are politically motivated and his lawyers have challenged the authority of the tribunal.
Aside from the treason allegations, Musharraf also faces trial over the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, the death of Akbar Bugti, a deadly raid on a radical mosque and the detention of judges.
