Islamabad, Nov 20 (IANS): Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has approved a panel of three judges for a special court for the trial of former president Pervez Musharraf in a high treason case.

The criteria for selection of the three judges was strictly based on seniority, the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) reported.

The special court will be headed by Justice Faisal Arab from Sindh High Court, while Justice Syed Tahira Safdar of Balochistan High Court and Justice Yawar Ali of Lahore High Court will be members. The government has notified the tribunal.

Earlier Tuesday, Pakistan's Supreme Court received names of five high court judges to initiate the case against Musharraf under Article 6 of the Constitution.

The nominated judges were Islamabad High Court's Noorul Haq N Qureshi, Yawar Ali of Lahore High Court, Faisal Arab of Sindh High Court, Syed Tahira Safdar of Balochistan High Court and Yahya Afridi of Peshawar High Court.

The names were forwarded to the Supreme Court registrar with service profiles, Geo News reported.

Pakistan Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry had asked the high courts to forward the names of judges after the government Monday asked the apex court to appoint a three-judge special tribunal to try Musharraf for abrogating the constitution in 2007, officials said.

This is the first time in Pakistan's history that a former president will face a high treason trial.

Interior Minister Nisar Ali Khan had announced Sunday that the government would formally put the former military ruler on trial for imposing an emergency in 2007.

Musharraf took power in a bloodless coup in 1999 and suspended the constitution when he declared emergency in 2007.