ISLAMABAD, Nov 12: The Supreme Court on Monday took up two identical petitions challenging the promulgation of the state of emergency and the Provisional Constitution Order and actions taken under them, and issued notices to the chief of army staff, the president and other respondents.

A bench of eight judges initiated the proceedings in an almost deserted courtroom on points raised by petitioners Tikka Iqbal Mohammad Khan and Watan Party chairman Barrister Zafarullah Khan regarding the validity of the emergency rule and the PCO and curbs imposed on judges of superior courts, the electronic media and the freedom of citizens.

Advocate Irfan Qadir represented Tikka Khan and Barrister Zafarullah himself appeared to plead his case before the bench which will resume hearing on Nov 15.

Although the petition of Barrister Zafarullah was not listed because it had been moved on Monday, the bench retired for a few minutes to allow the office to fix the matter before the court immediately.

The bench allowed the petitioner to implead Gen Musharraf as army chief by scribbling by hand his name on copies of the petition since the petitioner had originally cited only President Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz as respondents.

Attorney General Malik Mohammad Qayyum accepted notices on behalf of the respondents and said statements would be filed in the court preferably on Tuesday.

However, he said the questions raised in the petitions had been answered in the 2000 Zafar Ali Shah case by the Supreme Court by ruling that fundamental rights could not be suspended even during emergency.

Irfan Qadir said that Gen Musharraf as the army chief had no legal or constitutional authority to impose a state of emergency because an article in the Constitution dealing with the issue could only be invoked by the president.

Likewise, he said, the army chief had no mandate to suspend fundamental rights enunciated in articles 9 (security of person), 10 (safeguards as to arrest and detention), 15 (freedom of movement), 16 (freedom of movement), 17 (freedom of association), 19 (freedom of speech) and 25 (equality of citizens).

The proclamation of emergency, he said, was not in consonance with the Zafar Ali Shah case in which the court had validated the 1999 military coup by Gen Musharraf.

The court did not allow the petitioner to add another prayer to his petition to direct President Musharraf to relinquish his uniform.Barrister Zafarullah mentioned the announcement relating to elections by President Musharraf and said the polls could not be held in a fair manner in the absence of fundamental rights because political parties had to participate in it.

He also contended that the emergency had not been proclaimed under the Constitution because it had been imposed by the army chief.

Immediate release of lawyers and office-bearers of different bar associations, especially of Supreme Court Bar Association president Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan, was one of the prayers in his petition.

Headed by Chief Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar, the bench comprises Justice Mohammad Nawaz Abbasi, Justice Faqir Mohammad Khokhar, Justice M. Javed Buttar, Justice Ijazul Hassan, Justice Mohammad Qaim Jan Khan, Justice Mohammad Moosa K. Leghari and Justice Chaudhry Ejaz Yousaf.