A Special court trying former army chief and President Pervez Musharraf under Article 6 of the constitution on Wednesday completed recording of cross-examination of the complainant in the matter and adjourned the hearing till July 3 (today). Appearing before a three-member special bench of Justice Faisal Arab, the complainant in the case, Federal Interior Secretary, Shahid Khan, testified that during the tenure of his service as a public officer in Saudi Arabia he had never met Nawaz Sharif or any other member of his family.

Musharraf's counsel Dr Farogh Nasim resumed the cross-examination of the complainant while prosecutor Mohammad Akram Sheikh extended full support to the latter in the witness box, eliciting a complaint from Dr Nasim that the prosecutor's interruptions were providing undue support to the complainant.

During his cross-examination, Shahid Khan said he was not aware whether vice chief of army staff, all services chiefs and all corps commanders expressed their dissent at the proclamation of emergency. Khan testified in response to the defence counsel's cross-examination in the matter that in his opinion if one follows any illegal act or fails to express dissent at an illegal act he or she cannot be defined as an aide, an abettor or a facilitator. He also said, "It is incorrect to suggest that the basis of issue of proclamation of emergency in the country was due to involvement of the removal of judges without adopting the course/procedure of Supreme Judicial Council".

Copyright Business Recorder, 2014