By Muhammad Najeeb
Islamabad, Sep 17 (IANS) Pakistan’s Supreme Court Monday rejected applications by opposition leaders for constituting a full court bench to hear writ petitions against President Pervez Musharraf for holding two posts – the presidency and the chief of army staff.
Rejecting the applications, a nine-member bench headed by judge Rana Bhagwandas said the present bench would hear the petitions. Six petitions, including that of Jamaat-e-Islami chief Qazi Hussain Ahmed and Tehrik-e-Insaaf chief Imran Khan, have been filed in the Supreme Court.
Initially a seven-member bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry was constituted to hear these petitions. The chief justice later increased the number of judges to nine and also opted out of the bench.
After hearing all sides, including counsel for Khan and Qazi, Musharraf and the attorney general, the court said that the existing bench would hear the petitions against Musharraf.
According to the constitution, the presidential elections are due before Oct 15 as Musharraf’s term expires on Nov 15.
In its petition, Jamaat-e-Islami said that a 2004 parliamentary act that enabled Musharraf to become president while he still held the army chief’s post was against the constitution.
Musharraf’s “candidature for the election of the office of the president of Pakistan…for the next term is void, malafide, unconstitutional, without lawful authority and of no legal effect,” the petition said.
The court decision will set the direction of future politics in Pakistan, legal experts said, warning that martial law may be imposed if the court rules against the president.