ISLAMABAD, April 16: The Supreme Court on Tuesday adjourned hearing of the petitions challenging the assumption of president’s office by Gen Pervez Musharraf and the holding of referendum, till Monday, as one of the bench members was not available due to “personal reasons”.

A nine-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice Sheikh Riaz Ahmad, was slated to take up the petitions on Wednesday but the hearing was adjourned till April 22, eight days before the referendum.

SC Registrar Mohammad Amin Farooqi stated in a press release: “The cases relating to the vires of Referendum Order were fixed for hearing with effect from April 17, but due to non-availability of Justice Munir A. Sheikh, one of the members of the bench, for personal reasons, these cases have been adjourned till April 22.”

Sources said that Justice Sheikh, who is working in the Supreme Court’s registry at Lahore, had asked for adjournment for two days, but the chief justice decided to adjourn it till Monday, as only Friday was left for hearing in the current week.

The SC conducts hearings for five days in a week and on Saturdays the judges work in their chambers and write judgments.

The government had engaged counsel Abdul Hafeez Pirzada for the cases, but he is reportedly seeking clarifications about the decision that Chief Executive’s Senior Advisor Syed Sharifuddin Pirzada would be “head of the panel of advocates to defend the federal government is all those petitions.” He would decide soon whether he would “assist” Sharifuddin Pirzada.