SC bench enlarged to hear Uniform petitions
By Saad Saud

ISLAMABAD—Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry has constituted an 11-member larger bench of the Supreme Court to hear constitutional petitions about holding of two offices by the President on October 17 at Islamabad.
According to the cause list issued by the Supreme Court, the larger bench comprising Justice Javed Iqbal, Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar, Justice Khalil-ur-Rehman Ramday, Justice Muhammad Nawaz Abbasi, Justice Faqir Muhammad Khokhar, Justice M.Javed Buttar, Justice Tassaddaque Hussain Jillani, Justice Raja Fayyaz Ahmed, Justice Ch. Ijaz Ahmed, Justice Syed Jamshed Ali and Justice Ghulam Rabbani will hear constitutional petitions about holding of two office by the President.
The Chief Justice has also constituted a seven-member special larger bench to hear contempt matter in the case of Muhammad Nawaz Shrif, former Prime Minister on October 17 at 1.30 p.m. The special larger bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry would comprise Justice Javed Iqbal, Justice Sardar Muhammad Raza Khan, Justice Faqir Muhammad Khokhar, Justice M.Javed Buttar, Justice Raja Fayyaz Ahmed and Justice Syed Jamshed Ali.
A Pakistan Supreme Court bench that will rule on the legality of President Pervez Musharraf’s overwhelming election victory was expanded Tuesday, officials said. The number of judges to hear challenges from next week on the validity of the controversial election was expanded to 11, officials said, possibly to reduce the risk of a tied decision.
“Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry has enlarged the ten-member bench by adding one more judge,” the court’s spokesman Arshad Munir told. The court decided last week that Musharraf could stand in Saturday’s election which the military ruler and key US ally won in a landslide. But the court ordered that the result cannot be validated and declared official until it resolves the challenges, effectively leaving a sword hanging over Musharraf’s head.
A judgement against the general, who grabbed power in a bloodless coup in 1999, could push Musharraf over the brink after months of political turmoil and make him declare martial law. Musharraf has been at loggerheads with the top court since his botched attempt to sack the independent-minded Chaudhry in March, a move that sparked mass protests. Chaudhry is not on the bench to hear the election case.
The challenges were lodged by Musharraf’s two rivals in the election, former Supreme Court judge Wajihuddin Ahmad and the vice chairman of former premier Benazir Bhutto’s party. Musharraf crushed both in the poll, conducted by the national parliament and provincial assemblies, after it was boycotted by almost the entire opposition.
Justice Javed Iqbal will head the bench when it resumes hearings on October 17 to determine the legality of the poll and whether Musharraf was allowed to stand while keeping his role as army chief. Meanwhile, officials said the court will also hear a challenge against the deportation of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif on the same day.
“The chief justice has constituted a seven-member bench which will hear that appeal,” Munir said, adding that Chaudhry will lead the bench. The petition was filed by officials from Sharif’s party after Musharraf expelled the ex-premier hours after his return from exile in September.