SC to conclude Friday hearing of petitions over Musharraf’s election

ISLAMABAD: An 11-member bench of the Supreme Court will conclude Friday hearing of a number of petitions against General Pervez Musharraf’s eligibility to contest the presidential election held on October six. Justice Javed Iqbal, heading the bench, made it clear during the proceedings on Tuesday that the hearing would be completed by Friday because one member of the bench would not be available next week. Attorney General Malik Muhammad Qayyum who started his arguments on Monday was due to resume arguments but he requested the bench to give opportunity to Abdullah Khan Dogar, counsel of petitioner Dr. Anwarul Haq first. The Attorney General would resume his arguments on Wednesday as Abdullah Khan Dogar had completed his arguments Tuesday, according to the direction of the bench. The Attorney General in his arguments on Monday had pleaded that the petitions filed by Wajihuddin Ahmed, Makhdoom Amin Fahim, Liaqaut Baloch and others were not maintainable. Abdullah Khan Dogar, in his arguments, said that articles 62, 63 and 41 (2) were fully applicable to General Musharraf’s case and he was not eligible to stand for election. Regarding election of president twice by same parliament, he contended that the same person could not be elected two times by the same parliament and such a step would be undemocratic. About holding dual offices under the 17th amendment and Act 2004 of the parliament, he said this was contrary to the spirit of the constitution because such legislation was made for a specific person and for a specific period. At one stage Justice Javed Iqbal observed that there was much talk about democracy but supremacy of parliament had not been touched upon. Justice Iqbal, referring to detailed judgments in Pakistan Lawyers Forum case, said the Supreme Court had already held that parliament was the only forum for legislation. Abdullah Khan Dogar requested to revisit the judgment related to the 17th amendment but Justice Mohammad Nawaz Abbasi observed that review of the same judgement was already pending before the Supreme Court. The bench of the Supreme Court 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 Shah and Justice Ghulam Rabbani.