The Peshawar High Court has summoned top government officials for making derogatory remarks against its late chief justice, Justice Waqar Ahmed Seth.

Justice Seth led the special court bench that announced the verdict against former military dictator Pervez Musharraf in the high treason case. Musharraf was sentenced to death under Article 6 of the Constitution on December 17, 2019.

In the detailed judgment, Justice Seth had said in paragraph
66 that “we direct the Law Enforcement Agencies to strive their best to
apprehend the fugitive/convict and to ensure that the punishment is inflicted
as per law and if found dead, his corpse be dragged to the D-Chowk, Islamabad,
Pakistan and be hanged for 03 days.”

The verdict irked many quarters. Law Minister Farogh Naseem, then information minister Firdous Ashiq Awan and PM’s aide on accountability Shahzad Akbar had held a prolonged press conference after the announcement of the Musharraf verdict.

A petition was filed in the Peshawar High Court which accused
the government team of ridiculing the court and the judge. It was filed by Advocate
Malik Ajmal and Advocate Azizuddin Kakakhail.

A PHC bench comprising Justice Roohul Amin and Justice
Aijazul Ahsan heard the petition on Thursday. During the hearing, Justice Amin
asked the ones who disrespected the court to appear before it themselves at the
next hearing.

Deputy Attorney General Amir Javed pleaded with the court to allow him to present arguments on behalf of the defendants but Justice Amin denied the request.

The court ordered the ministers to appear before it in
person and adjourned the hearing.

A date for the next hearing has yet to be fixed.