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| April 4, 2002 | Thursday | Muharram 20, 1423 |
Validity sought for referendum
ISLAMABAD, April 3: The Supreme Court was approached on Wednesday to declare that there was no bar in the Constitution to prevent Gen Pervez Musharraf from holding referendum to fill up the constitutional vacuum created after the resignation of elected President Mohammad Rafiq Tarar.
Moulvi Iqbal Haider, a self-styled chairman of Awami Himayat Teherik, approached the Supreme Court on Wednesday, four days after his identical petition was dismissed by the Sindh High Court.
Iqbal Haider, in his petition for leave to appeal, demanded of the apex court to declare that in the present circumstances, Gen Pervez Musharraf can remain president of Pakistan by holding referendum “to fill up the constitutional vacuum until and unless the next president is chosen.”
He further prayed the court to declare that there was no bar in the constitution to prevent Gen Musharraf from holding referendum under the constitution for exercising the state power and authority during the vacuum created after the resignation of elected president Mohammad Rafiq Tarar and therefore it had become necessary to fill up the constitutional vacuum through the referendum under the constitution and “state necessity.”
The petitioner stated that Article 2-A, which is now substantive part of the constitution, guarantees that state shall exercise its power and authority through the chosen representatives of the people and Article 77 of the constitution also gave guarantee that no tax should be levied for the purpose of federation except by or under the authority of chosen representatives.
He argued that Gen Ziaul Haq held referendum in 1984 and all his actions were endorsed by the assembly in 1985.
After the referendum in 1984, five general elections were held and the representatives of the public adorned the parliament, but none of them brought any resolution against the referendum.
He also held that Qazi Hussain Ahmad, who filed the petition challenging the holding of referendum, was also a member of the Senate but he never raised any objection to the mode of appointment of Gen Ziaul Haq as President of Pakistan through referendum under the same clause.
He said Jamat-i-Islami had even supported Gen Zia in his bid to become the president.
The petitioner has filed an application for the early hearing of the petition, but no date has been fixed so far by the office of the Supreme Court.
Meanwhile, Chauhdry Ikram, president of Lahore High Court, Rawalpindi Bar Association, also announced to challenge the holding of referendum in the Supreme Court under its original jurisdiction.
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