Sindh HC asks Musharraf to appear before it over Karachi clashes

Adding to the woes of beleaguered former military ruler Pervez Musharraf, a Pakistani court has summoned him to appear before it on August 31 in connection with the May 2007 violent clashes during a protest by lawyers here that claimed over 40 lives.

The Sindh High Court issued notices to Musharraf and MQM chief Altaf Hussain, both in London currently, as also to provincial interior minister Waseem Akhtar and some others yesterday. They were all asked to appear before a two-judge bench during the next hearing scheduled for August 31.

The development came nearly two weeks after Musharraf was booked by the Islamabad Police for "illegally" detaining over 60 judges during the emergency in November 2007. A Lahore court also directed local police on Tuesday to explain by September 2 why a case was not registered against Musharraf for "illegally" ordering a crackdown on judges.

The Sindh High Court, which asked him to appear before it on August 31, was hearing a petition and three related applications, including one that asks for the former president be made a respondent, on violence that rocked Karachi on May 12, 2007 over an aborted visit by chief justice Iftikhar M Chaudhry, who had been suspended at that time by Musharraf.