The Hindu : Front Page : All but one petition against Musharraf dismissed

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Tuesday, Nov 20, 2007
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All but one petition against Musharraf dismissed

Nirupama Subramanian

Decision not unexpected, say Benazir, PML (N)

U.S. envoy meets PPP leader
Rumours on Musharraf-Sharif meet

ISLAMABAD: The rearranged post-Emergency Supreme Court of Pakistan on Monday dismissed five out of six petitions challenging the candidacy of President Pervez Musharraf in the October 6 presidential election.

A notification confirming Gen. Musharraf’s victory in the election now awaits the formality of the hearing of the lone remaining petition, which has been posted for Thursday.

Pakistan People’s Party leader Benazir Bhutto, who once again ruled out talks with Gen. Musharraf, said the court’s decision was “not unexpected.” The Pakistan Muslim League (Nawz) also said it was “no surprise.”

A 10-member bench of the reconstituted court started hearing the petitions on Monday, but dismissed two petitions as withdrawn, and three for “non-prosecution” on a fireworks-filled day in court.

One petitioner, a doctor, withdrew his case for personal reasons. The second withdrawal by Pakistan People’s Party deputy leader Makhdoom Amin Fahim came after an angry outburst by the judges.

Mr. Fahim, who was a candidate in the presidential elections, had approached the pre-Emergency Supreme Court as an aggrieved party, but on Monday his lawyer filed an application for the deferment of the petition.

The bench was furious about the negative remarks in the application against judges who took oath under the November 3 provisional constitutional order. Threatening contempt proceedings against Mr. Fahim — he was not present in court — and his lawyers, who are also PPP politicians, the judges said they could be disqualified from contesting the elections, forcing the hasty withdrawal of the application, as well the petition.

The bench was also angered by an application by Justice (retd) Wajihuddin Ahmed, another petitioner who was a contestant in the presidential election. Through his “advocate on record” he applied that his petition “not be listed for hearing unless and until the Hon’ble Chief Justice of Pakistan Mr. Justice Iftikhar Muhammed Chaudhary and other Constitutional Judges of this Hon’ble court resume their duties and functions under this Constitution.”

The application said the petitioner did not recognise the bench constituted under provisional constitutional order, and as the petitioner’s lawyers had already completed their arguments [before the previous court], no further arguments were necessary.The application also pointed out that all the lawyers of the petitioner had been arrested except one, whose whereabouts were not known.

For this application, the retired Supreme Court judge’s lawyer had to give a written apology, demanded by the judges if they were not to initiate contempt proceedings against him.

As he refused to argue the petition, the judges dismissed it for “non-prosecution” along with that of the Jamat-i-Islami, which also asked for deferment, and the Pakistan Lawyers’ Forum, whose representative did not attend the hearing.

In Karachi, Ms. Bhutto said the verdict was “expected,” while in the capital, PPP secretary-general Raja Pervez Ashraff said, “We were expecting that Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhary would be reinstated and that the decision he would be giving on these petitions would be the right decision.”

U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan Anne Patterson called on Ms. Bhutto in Karachi, and later told reporters her country wanted “reconciliation among moderate political leaders” and free, fair and transparent elections.

But sticking to her guns, Ms. Bhutto said she was in discussions with the opposition for a roadmap to democracy. “We don’t have confidence that Gen. Musharraf’s regime could give us that roadmap,” she said.

But rumours are also rife that Gen. Musharraf wants to establish contact with PML (N) leader Nawaz Sharif, deported to Jeddah after his aborted September 10 attempt to return to Pakistan.

Mr. Sharif told Geo TV in the minutes before the channel’s closure that Gen. Musharraf had been making overtures to him, but also said if he met him, there would be only one thing on the agenda: the General’s resignation as President and Army chief.

Chairman of the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) Raja Zafrul Haq reiterated this on Monday, as the rumours of an impending Sharif-Musharraf meeting grew stronger.

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