Pak SC to hear challenges to Musharraf re-election

Pak SC will begin hearing legal challenges to Musharraf's re-election in uniform amidst speculation that an adverse ruling could prompt the General to impose martial law.

Pakistan8217;s Supreme Court will on Wednesday begin hearing legal challenges to President Pervez Musharraf8217;s re-election in uniform amidst speculation that an adverse ruling could prompt the General to impose martial law.

An 11-member bench of the apex court headed by Justice Javed Iqbal will take up five petitions, including two by PPP leader Makhdoom Amin Fahim and retired judge Wajihuddin Ahmed 8211; who had unsuccessfully contested the October 6 presidential poll against Musharraf 8211; challenging his eligibility to contest the election without giving up the post of army chief.

A day ahead of the presidential poll, a 10-mmember bench of the apex court declined to stay the election but said the result could not be officially notified till it decided on Musharraf8217;s candidature.

Musharraf swept the poll that was boycotted by the opposition, thanks to the support of the ruling PML-Q in a truncated electoral college. But he could not be sworn in for another five-year term.

The possibility of the court striking down Musharraf8217;s candidature has sparked speculation that the beleaguered military ruler, who came to power in 1999 in a bloodless coup, could impose martial law to cling on to power.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sher Afghan Khan Niazi on Tuesday said the imposition of martial law could not be ruled out if the Supreme Court decides Musharraf8217;s re-election is invalid.

Today8217;s court hearing againg bring into sharp focus the confrontation between Musharraf and the judiciary, which was sparked by the General8217;s failed attempt to sack Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry in March.

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On September 28, a nine-member bench of the Supreme Court had dismissed several petitions challenging Musharraf8217;s candidature in the presidential poll on the ground that they were non-maintainable. That bench, headed by Justice Rana Bhagwandas, decided the matter by a 6-3 vote among the judges.

Musharraf has given an assurance to the court that he will give up his uniform by November 15 if he is re-elected.

Since then, he has kept political circles on tenterhooks by saying that he would decide his future course of action after the apex court gives its ruling.

The Supreme Court will also take up today the contempt of court petition filed by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his PML-N party on the issue of his deportation to Saudi Arabia after he attempted to return to Pakistan on September 10.

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Sharif flew back to Pakistan in the wake of an apex court order allowing him to return to the country but was deported within four hours of arriving in Islamabad.

A seven-member bench headed by Chief Justice Chaudhry will sit after normal court timings from this afternoon to take up the contempt petition. At the last hearing of the matter before the four-day Eid holidays, the court had sought reports from the Pakistan International Airlines chairman, the director general of the Civil Aviation Authority and the chief of the Federal Investigation Agency.