SC takes up today petitions challenging Musharraf vote
By Nasir Iqbal
ISLAMABAD, Oct 16: All eyes are again focused on the Supreme Court which will resume hearing on Wednesday petitions challenging the eligibility of Gen Pervez Musharraf for another presidential term.
Headed by Justice Javed Iqbal, the 11-judge bench consists of Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday, Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar, Justice Mohammad Nawaz Abbasi, Justice Faqir Mohammad Khokhar, Justice Mohammad Javed Buttar, Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani, Justice Raja Fayyaz Ahmed, Justice Chaudhry Ijaz Ahmed, Justice Syed Jamshed Ali and Justice Ghulam Rabbani.
On October 5, a 10-member Supreme Court bench had declined to stay the presidential election but had directed the Election Commission of Pakistan not to notify the result till it gave its verdict on the petitions.
President Musharraf won a one-sided election on October 6 for another five-year term from a truncated electoral college amid boycotts and protests.
Later, the Supreme Court reconstituted the bench after dropping one member of the earlier 10-judge bench and inducting two other judges.
Five cases are pending before the bench — two petitions had been moved by retired Supreme Court judge and presidential candidate Wajihuddin Ahmed and MMA leader Liaquat Baloch against the Election Commission and three others seek review of the earlier apex court judgment on the application of Article 63 of the Constitution on the election of the president. Justice Wajihuddin will be represented in court by Aitezaz Ahsan.
The review petitions have been filed by PPP Vice-Chairman Makhdoom Amin Fahim, Pathologist Dr Anwarul Haq and private citizen Waseem Rehan.
This is the second time that the bench hearing the identical petitions challenging Gen Musharraf’s candidature has been reconstituted.
Earlier, Justice Sardar Mohammad Raza Khan had opted out of the nine-member bench, initially constituted by the Chief Justice, saying he had already given his view that Gen Musharraf was not qualified to contest the election. Justice Raza was one of the three judges who had dissented with the majority decision of a nine-member Supreme Court bench which had held that petitions challenging the holding of two offices by Gen Musharraf were not maintainable.
The reconstituted bench does not have Justice Nasir-ul-Mulk and two new judges on it are Justice Mohammed Javed Buttar and Justice Chaudhry Ijaz Ahmed. Justice Nasir-ul-Mulk has gone to Barcelona (Spain) to attend an international conference on ‘Training the Judiciary’.
Soon after the hearing, a larger bench will be reconstituted into a seven-member bench to sit after normal court timings and take up the contempt of court petition moved jointly by Nawaz Sharif and the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) against his forced deportation to Jeddah on September 10. Headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, the bench will comprise Justice Javed Iqbal, Justice Sardar Mohammad Raza Khan, Justice Faqir Mohammad Khokhar, Justice Mohammed Javed Buttar, Justice Raja Fayyaz Ahmed and Justice Syed Jamshed Ali.
At the last hearing, the Supreme Court had directed the chairman of Pakistan International Airlines, Zafar A. Khan, and the director general of the Civil Aviation Authority, Farooq Rehmatullah, to submit details of activities at the Islamabad airport on September 10 when Mian Nawaz Sharif was deported.
PIA and the CAA are also required to provide details of the aeroplane which was used to deport Mr Sharif, along with orders authorising them to do so.
The director general of the Federal Investigation Agency, Tariq Pervez, was directed to submit documents showing the exit stamp on the passport of Mr Sharif when the petitioner was deported.
