'Musharraf cannot be held without govt consent'

Pakistani police will be not be able to arrest or question former President Pervez Musharraf without direct orders from the government, a media report said.

Despite being booked for "illegally" detaining scores of judges during the 2007 emergency, Pakistani police will be not be able to arrest or question former President Pervez Musharraf without direct orders from the government, a media report said on Friday.

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Musharraf and other unnamed persons accused in a recently registered FIR of placing over 60 judges under house arrest "could not be arrested because of constitutional and legal immunity", the Dawn newspaper quoted police officers as saying.

A police station in Islamabad has booked Musharraf for illegally detaining the judges after they failed to endorse the emergency he imposed in November 2007. The case was registered on the orders of a local court.

Musharraf is currently in Europe and earlier reports had suggested he could face arrest if he returned to the country.

Police are also not authorised to approach the affected judges and other accused to record their statements and investigate the matter because they are senior government officials, the police officers said.

These persons can be approached only through the heads of their respective departments. Efforts will be made to record the judges' statements through registrars of superior courts but whether they would agree to this is another matter, the officers said.