The Lahore High Court on Monday said that the formation of the special court that sentenced former Pakistani military dictator Pervez Musharraf to death for treason was unconstitutional, Dawn reported.

Musharraf’s counsel had moved the High Court against the verdict. The court said the treason case was not prepared in accordance with the law. Justices Syed Mazhar Ali Akbar Naqvi, Mohammad Ameer Bhatti and Chaudhry Masood Jahangir delivered the verdict unanimously.

Musharraf’s lawyer said that after the verdict of the High Court, the judgement by the special court was void. Musharraf had asked the Lahore High Court to set aside the special court’s verdict for being “illegal, without jurisdiction and unconstitutional”, and for violating several articles of the Pakistani Constitution.

On December 18, a special court had sentenced Musharraf to death for high treason. Two out of the three judges were in favour of capital punishment. The case was initiated by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif against Musharraf for imposing a state of emergency in the country on November 2007.

Musharraf, 76, currently lives in exile in Dubai. Musharraf’s health has been deteriorating, and he was admitted to hospital on December 2. He was discharged later, but continues to be on a hospital bed installed at his home. “I have served my country for 10 years,” Musharraf said in a video statement after his sentencing. “I have fought for my country. This [treason] is the case in which I have not been heard and I have been victimised.”

On December 20, the special court issued a bizarre order, directing that Musharraf, if found dead before being executed, should be dragged to the D-Chowk in Islamabad, in front of the Pakistan Parliament, and hung for three days.

Both the Pakistan Army and the Imran Khan-led government had reacted with anger to Musharraf’s sentence.