1999 Pakistani coup d ' état The 1999 Pakistani coup d ' état was a bloodless coup d ' état in which the Pakistan Army and then Chief of Army Staff and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee , General Pervez Musharraf , overthrew elected Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his existing elected government , on 12 October 1999 . Two days later , on 14 October 1999 , Musharraf declared a state of emergency and issued a Provisional Constitutional Order . The Supreme Court of Pakistan declared the coup to be legal , but ordered that the army rule be limited to three years . Consequently , Musharraf held a national referendum on allowing himself to continue his rule , on 30 April 2002 . The referendum , which Musharraf won with almost 98 % of the votes in his favour , was alleged by many , including the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan , to be highly fraudulent . The coup . After the Kargil War , Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was already on bad terms with Chief of Army Staff General Pervez Musharraf . Sharif assigned blame for the political and military disaster on Musharraf , and Musharraf placed the blame on Sharif . On 12 October 1999 , Sharif dismissed Musharraf and nominated the ISI Director - General , Lt Gen Ziauddin Butt , in his place . Musharraf , who was , at that time , on an official visit to Sri Lanka , immediately boarded a commercial airliner back to Pakistan . Also on board were Major - General Tariq Majid and Brigadier - General Nadeem Taj . In an attempt to thwart Musharraf ' s return to Karachi , Pakistan , Sharif ordered the plane to be diverted to Nawabshah . When this failed , Sharif ordered the Karachi airport to refuse to allow the plane to land ; the airport used civil aviation planes to block the runway . The Pakistan Army , under directions from Lieutenant General Muzaffar Usmani , seized the control tower and allowed the plane to land . After this , troops took control of the state - run television station in Islamabad , encircled the Prime Minister House , gained control of international airports , and cut international phone lines . On 14 October 1999 , Musharraf declared a state of emergency and issued a Provisional Constitutional Order . These designated Musharraf as Chief Executive , suspended the federal and provincial Parliaments , and suspended the Constitution , although they left Muhammad Rafiq Tarar in office as President . Text of Proclamation of Emergency . Soon after taking over the country , emergency was declared in the country . Following is the text of the Proclamation of Emergency declared by Musharraf : Text of Provisional Constitutional Order 1999 . Following is the text of Provisional Constitutional Order ( PCO ) promulgated by Musharraf . After its proclamation , the order was modified on multiple occasions : Provisional Constitutional Order judges oath . On 26 January 2000 , all the members of the superior judiciary was asked to take oath under the Provisional Constitutional Order . Six of the thirteen Supreme Court justices refused to take oath , an issue identified as the " biggest challenge " to the new government . Other High Court justices also refused to take the oath . Those who refused were removed from office . The Provisional Constitutional Order disallowed challenging any actions made by the military , and many judges who refused to take the oath cited infringements upon the judiciary system such as this as their reasoning for refusing . Asma Jahangir , a Pakistani lawyer and human rights advocate , said , " The military rulers are doing their best to erode the independence of the judiciary . I salute those judges who have refused to take the oath . " Legal challenge to coup . On 15 November 1999 , the first legal challenge to the coup was filed in the Supreme Court of Pakistan by Syed Zafar Ali Shah , a member of the suspended National Assembly . He requested the court declare the military takeover " illegal and unconstitutional " , and order the restoration of Sharif ' s government and of the National Parliament and four provincial assemblies that were suspended . Later , similar appeals were filed by the Pakistan Muslim League ( N ) , Iqbal Haider of Muslim Welfare Movement , and then by Wahabul Khairi , an advocate . On 1 December 1999 , a five - member bench of Supreme Court was constituted to hear these appeals . The bench headed by Chief Justice Saeeduzzaman Siddiqui and had Justice Mohammad Bashir Jahangiri , Justice Nasir Aslam Zahid , Justice Abdur Rehman Khan and Justice Wajeeh - ud - Din Ahmed as other members . Aftermath . 2002 Referendum . On 12 May 2000 , the Supreme Court of Pakistan declared the coup to be legal and justified , but also ordered that the army rule in Pakistan be limited to three years . This led Musharraf to hold a national referendum on 30 April 2002 . 98 % of the voters favored Musharraf , and this extended his presidential term for another five years . Allegations of illegitimacy . Many groups denounced the referendum as extremely fraudulent . Reuters journalists claimed to see ballot stuffing and pressure to vote being placed on governmental employees . Ibn Abdur Rehman , director of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan , dismissed the referendum as " farcical " , also claiming that votes were stuffed . The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan stated that the voting irregularities " exceeded its worst fears " . The United States offered no opinion about the legitimacy of the election . Don McKinnon , Secretary - General of the Commonwealth of Nations , expressed their wish that Pakistan return to a democratic government . Although the referendum was challenged , the Supreme Court rejected the challenge and upheld the result . Information Minister Nisar Memon dismissed allegations of fraud as propaganda created by the opposition . He stated that " Those who opposed the referendum preferred to stay at home and didn ' t create any problem . "