Former President Pervez Musharraf gestures to his supporters upon his arrival from Dubai at Jinnah International airport in Karachi March 24, 2013. PHOTO: REUTERS
While winning the upcoming general elections may seem a distant dream for former president Pervez Musharraf, if advocates AK Dogar and Hamid Khan have their way, the recently-returned dictator will not even be able to contest the polls.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed advocate Dogar, who is representing Dr Mubashir Hassan, one of the founding members of Pakistan Peoples Party, to raise objections against former president Pervez Musharraf’s nomination papers, if he decides to contest elections.
Dogar argued that Musharraf could not contest elections after his November 2007 emergency order was declared unconstitutional and it was declared that he had held the Constitution in abeyance and had abrogated it.
The lawyer was contesting a petition seeking steps to enable the Election Commission of Pakistan to conduct a thorough scrutiny of candidates under Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution.
“The July 31 2009 decision of the SC has taken finality and has become part of the Constitution. It was declared that Musharraf subverted the Constitution in 2007. After this declaration, he stands convicted and should be stopped from contesting elections,” said Dogar.
Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry responded that objections could only be raised against the candidate once he had filed his nomination papers.
Heading a three-member bench the chief justice also stated that it was the duty of the returning officer to adjudicate the objections against candidates. “If you want to plead against Musharraf you need to file a separate petition with a specific request,” he added.
Saying that the court had passed an order on Tuesday regarding candidates’ particulars, the CJ categorically stated that the court could not make a law or issue a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) in the matter.
The court has put off the hearing for one week, allowing the petitioner’s lawyer to make some necessary amendments in the petition.
Separately, the Bar Association of the Lahore High Court Rawalpindi filed a petition through advocate Hamid Khan asking the court to initiate proceedings of high treason against the ex-dictator.
Naming the secretary law and justice division and Pervez Musharraf as respondents, the bar association urged the court to direct the law ministry to initiate proceedings against the former dictator. The petitioner has also cited a 2009 judgment by the SC and urged the apex court to take action, as the federal government had failed to proceed against Musharraf.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 28th, 2013.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ