LAHORE, Nov 30: The Lahore High Court was moved on Saturday for the disqualification of Gen Musharraf for holding the office of president on grounds that he had illegally ordered writing off Rs8.2 million telephone charges due from former senate chairman Wasim Sajjad.

Petitioner-lawyer M. D. Tahir contended that President Musharraf on Nov 15 had ordered writing off the amount due from Wasim Sajjad while working as senate chairman.

He claimed that the orders were issued despite an objection raised by the Public Accounts Committee and the Accountant-General of Pakistan. Wasim Sajjad paid just Rs5,000 line rent, said the petitioner.

He contended that the president had no authority to issue such orders.

He submitted that a country with high inflation and increasing unemployment could not afford such discrimination at the highest level of the government.

He also sought imposition of a ban on Wasim Sajjad for contesting senate elections in future for being the beneficiary of an illegal transaction.