Pakistan Bar Council has warned the government against filing any reference against Justice Waqar Ahmad Sheikh, who was part of the Special Court which awarded death sentence to former military-president General Pervez Musharraf.

In a statement on Monday, PBC declared that the lawyers’ community would launch a protest campaign throughout the country if the government initiated such a move.

The Council observed that Justice Waqar was being targeted because he sentenced Pervez Musharraf to death for imposing emergency in violation of the Constitution.

It said filing of reference against Justice Waqar would be considered as an ‘attack’ on the freedom of the judiciary since the sentence announced by Justice Waqar was historic. Never before in Pakistan’s history any military dictator was brought to the dock, the Bar added.

The case was filed against Pervez Musharraf during the previous government of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz. After only one appearance in the court, the former military dictator made his way out of the country and has been living in Dubai in self-exile since then.

Another interesting aspect of the case is the government, being a prosecuting party, had filed a petition in Lahore High Court to stop the trial court from pronouncement of the judgment.

After the government’s plea was rejected, the judgment was announced following which the constitution of the Special Court was challenged and later declared illegal.

The former dictator did not appear in the court despite the fact that the court summoned him over a dozen times.

Also on Monday, former president of High Court Bar Rawalpindi Tofeeq Asif filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging LHC decision declaring formation of Special Court illegal.