ISLAMABAD, (Reuters) – Pakistan’s Supreme Court ruled yesterday that former president Pervez Musharraf trampled the constitution when he imposed emergency rule two years ago and all actions taken by him then were illegal.
Musharraf, who came to power in a coup in 1999, quit as president almost a year ago to avoid impeachment and has been living in London for the past two months.
Yesterday’s judgment, delivered by a panel of 14 judges, did not touch on whether Musharraf should be punished for his misrule, but lawyers and politicians said it was a landmark ruling that would deter future power grabs by Pakistani generals.
Hoping to secure a second term as president before giving up his dual role as army chief, Musharraf purged judges who stood in his way, suspended the constitution and ordered the arrest of hundreds of political opponents in November 2007.
Farhatullah Babar, a spokesman for President Asif Ali Zardari, described the ruling as a “triumph of the democratic principles, a stinging negation of dictatorship”.
Neither Musharraf nor his lawyers attended this week’s hearings, despite being summoned by the court headed by his nemesis, Chief Justice Chaudhry.
Lawyers clapped and shouted “Long live the chief justice” and “Hang Musharraf” after Chaudhry read the judgment.
“It locks the door to future adventurism,” Aitzaz Ahsan, the leader of the lawyers’ movement that challenged Musharraf’s rule, told reporters.
