ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of the Peshawar High Court, Justice Waqar Ahmed Seth, who recently contracted the coronavirus and was taken to a hospital in Islamabad, passed away on Thursday. He was 59.
Prime Minister Imran Khan and Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa expressed grief over Seth’s passing:
Saddened to learn of the passing of Chief Justice Peshawar High Court Waqar Ahmed Seth. May his soul rest in peace - Ameen. My condolences & prayers go to his family.
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) November 12, 2020
General Qamar Javed Bajwa, #COAS expresses grief on passing away of Chief Justice Peshawar High Court, Justice Waqar Ahmed Seth . “May Allah bless his soul & give strength to the bereaved family to bear this irreparable loss, Ameen”, COAS.
— DG ISPR (@OfficialDGISPR) November 12, 2020
Seth became a household name in Pakistan as part of the special court that heard the treason case against Pakistan’s former military ruler, General Pervez Musharraf, and issued a death sentence against him.
The verdict was unprecedented in a country where the army has ruled for almost half its history and still remains a powerful actor in politics.
Seth became a household name after writing a controversial passage in the detailed ruling saying Musharraf should be hanged in front of the country’s parliament for three days for subverting the constitution and derailing the political process.
However, this was minority ruling since the other two judges on the panel did not endorse his legal opinion.
Seth’s court also set aside several convictions by Pakistan’s secretive military courts, many of them of death sentences, saying the trials were not fair.
