SC adjourns Musharraf re-election case till Monday

CNews ISLAMABAD: An 11-member bench of the Supreme Court hearing petitions against the legality of president General Pervez Musharraf’s October 6 election will give a verdict within two weeks, the head of the bench Justice Javed Iqbal said Thursday after a three-hour session the court adjourned the hearing till October 22 (Monday). Ch.Aitzaz Ahsan, appearing as counsel of Justice (Retd) Wajihuddin Ahmed requested the bench to adjourn the case till the announcement of detailed judgement in constitutional petitions of Imran Khan, Jamaat-e-Islami and others. The bench rejected the plea. “The case can not be lingered on for indefinite time as it is a high profile case. We want to finish this case in 10 to 12 days,” Justice Javed Iqbal said, pointing out that one member of the bench has proceeded on leave abroad. Justice Javed Iqbal had also led the bench that dismissed constitutional petitions of Imran Khan, Jamaat-e-Islami and others by a majority 6-3 judgment, said that detailed judgment in that case would be announced within a few days. Ch.Aitzaz Ahsan presented one page formulation before starting his arguments and said, “I do agree that General Pervez Musharraf can remain President in uniform till November 16 but he is not qualified for the next term.” He raised a number of questions about the qualification of the president to contest the election and said that the present assemblies were not competent to elect a president for the next five years. About the recently held presidential election, Ch.Aitzaz Ahsan said that the election of the president was held on a date, which was constitutionally premature. The counsel apprised the court that the president did not fulfill his promise made in his address to the nation on December 23, 2003 regarding shedding his uniform. The bench asked the counsel to submit record of that speech in the court. He cited various judgements of the Supreme Court in support of his contention that serving army personnel could not take part in politics. Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar observed that President Musharraf had committed to relinquish the post of army chief before starting his new term and asked the counsel whether he wanted the President to retain the uniform. Aitzaz Ahsan said the President would have to doff the uniform and it because of the public pressure. Justice Javed Iqbal asked the lawyer to remember that it was the parliament which had authorized the President to hold two offices and “you are also part of the parliament.” The 11-member bench comprises Justice Javed Iqbal, Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar, Justice Khalil-ur-Rehman Ramday, Justice Muhammad Nawaz Abbasi, Justice Faqir Muhammad Khokhar, Justice M.Javed Buttar, Justice Tassaddaque Hussain Jillani, Justice Raja Fayyaz Ahmed, Justice Ch.Ijaz Ahmed, Justice Syed Jamshed Ali and Justice Ghulam Rabbani.