ISLAMABAD, Feb 25: The Supreme Court on Wednesday again adjourned till March 15, the hearing of APNS petition challenging the Seventh Wage Board Award.

The Supreme Court bench consisting of Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, Justice Rana Bhagwandas, and Justice Sardar Raza Khan waited for the whole day, but the counsel for APNS, Abdul Hafeez Pirzada, remained busy before another bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice Nazim Hussain Siddiqui.

When the court took up the case, Advocate on Record M.S. Khattack, informed the court that Mr Pirzada was busy before a bench headed by Chief Justice Nazim Hussain Siddiqui.

He also stated that Mr Pirzada had made a request to the Chief Justice for the grant of general adjournment till March 15 as he has to go abroad for medical treatment.

Senior Advocate Abid Hasan Minto, representing the All Pakistan Newspaper Employees Confederation APNEC and Pakistan Federal Union of Journalist (PFUJ) said that when there was a request for adjournment from Mr Pirzada till March 15, 2004 his clients had no objection provided that the case was taken up for hearing on that day.

Abid Hasan Minto said that the case should be fixed at serial number 1 on March 15, and should continue till the conclusion of the case. The court accepted the request and recorded that it was adjourning the case till March 15 on a joint request, and it would be placed at serial No 1 of the cause list.