Pak court rejects Musharraf's medical report as `inconclusive`

The prosecutor in the high treason case against former Pakistani dictator Pervez Musharraf has rejected a report on his health prepared by military doctors, saying it is an "attempt to thwart the judicial process".

"We have submitted our views saying we don't believe in this medical report," Prosecutor Akram Sheikh told PTI. Speaking on the sidelines of an event on Monday night, he said he wants the case against 70-year-old Musharraf to be taken to its logical end.

"I want the case to progress and arguments to take place on legal points," he said, claiming that defence lawyers were trying to stonewall progress.

The special court formed by the government to try Musharraf on charges of treason for imposing emergency in 2007 will resume hearing the case tomorrow. The court is expected to hear arguments on the medical report submitted at the last hearing on January 24.

The three-judge court had earlier this month ordered the formation of a medical board comprising doctors of the Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology in Rawalpindi, where  Musharraf is admitted on January 2, to assess his health.

Though the report has not been made public, sources who had read it told reporters that Musharraf has refused to undergo heart surgery in Pakistan and wants to travel abroad for treatment. The report further said his disease was "serious" and could be "life threatening".

Sheikh on Monday submitted an application to the special court and raised several objections to the report.

The Dawn daily reported that the prosecution had said the report was "inconclusive and makes attempts to thwart the judicial process by urging the special court to come to a decision regarding further procedures/interventions without expressing as to whether the prerequisite tests prior to angiogram have been performed".

The daily said the report's findings were deliberately vague. "The report discloses no reasons as to why a patient of such a disease needs constant hospitalisation since January 2, especially without any progress in his clinical evaluation or management".

The prosecution said the report did not even come close to addressing the questions which the medical board was bound to answer in terms of the court's January 16 order, Dawn reported.

The prosecution incorporated into the report the opinion of United States-based cardiologist Ismail Bokhari which said the Musharraf's cardiac examination was "perfectly normal" and his chance for serious cardiac disease is "very low".