ISLAMABAD, Oct 9: A Supreme Court bench hearing petitions challenging the eligibility of Gen Pervez Musharraf for the presidential election was reconstituted on Tuesday after the name of one of its members was dropped and two other judges were inducted to make it 11 from the earlier 10-member bench. The new bench will resume hearing from October 17.
The 10-member Supreme Court Bench had on Friday declined to stay the presidential election, but directed the Election Commission not to notify the results till it gave its verdict on the petitions.
President Pervez Musharraf had on Saturday won a one-sided election for another five-year term amid boycott and protests.
This is the second time that the bench has been reconstituted. Earlier, Justice Sardar Mohammad Raza Khan had opted out of the nine-member bench constituted by the chief justice, saying that he had already given his views that Gen Musharraf was not qualified to contest the election. He was one of the three judges who had dissented from the majority decision of a nine-member Supreme Court bench which had held that the petitions challenging the holding of two offices by Gen Musharraf were not maintainable.
Headed by Justice Javed Iqbal, the previous 10-member bench comprised Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar, Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday, Justice Mohammad Nawaz Abbasi, Justice Faqir Mohammad Khokar, Justice Tasadduq Hussain Jilani, Justice Nasirul Mulk, Justice Raja Fayyaz Ahmed, Justice Syed Jamshed Ali and Justice Ghulam Rabbani.
The reconstituted bench will not include Justice Nasirul Mulk, but two more judges — Justice M. Javed Buttar and Justice Ch Ijaz Ahmed — have been inducted into it.
Soon after hearing the petitions challenging Gen Musharraf’s candidature for the presidential election on Oct 17, the bench will be reformed into a seven-member bench the same day to decide a contempt of the court petition moved jointly by Nawaz Sharif and his Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) against his deportation to Saudi Arabia after his return on Sept 10 from London.
Headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, the bench will comprise Justice Javed Iqbal, Justice Sardar Mohammad Raza Khan, Justice Faqir Mohammad Khokhar, Justice M. Javed Buttar, Justice Raja Fayyaz Ahmed and Justice Syed Jamshed Ali.
The Supreme Court had its last hearing directed Pakistan International Airlines chairman Zafar A Khan and Civil Aviation Authority director-general Farooq Rehmatullah to submit details of activities which took place at the Islamabad airport on Sept 10 when the former prime minister was deported to Jeddah after his arrival from London. They were also asked to provide details of the aircraft which took Nawaz Sharif to Jeddah along with the directives of the authority which had ordered the deportation.Likewise, Federal Investigation Agency director-general Tariq Pervez was directed to submit documents showing the exit stamp on the passport of Mr Sharif when he was deported.
