Dual office case hearing adjourned till September 17

The Pakistan Supreme Court on Thursday adjourned the hearing of the Jamaat-e- Islamis constitutional petition against the holding of dual offices by President General Pervez Musharraf till September 17.

Islamabad, Sept.6 : The Pakistan Supreme Court on Thursday adjourned the hearing of the Jamaat-e- Islami's constitutional petition against the holding of dual offices by President General Pervez Musharraf till September 17.

A seven-member apex court bench, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, is hearing the petition.

Attorney General Malik Qayyum and Syed Sharifuddin Pirzada, the counsel for the president, presented their replies during the hearing, reports The News.

The apex court nominated S.M. Zafar, Aitizaz Ahsan and Abdul Hafeez Pirzada to assist the court in the case after the Attorney General had refused. The Attorney General, however, later agreed to assist the court.

During today's hearing, the court asked the Attorney General if he would submit a statement about the dual-offices of the president. The Attorney General answered that he would inform the court after getting instructions from his client. He left the courtroom for his office.

He later told the court that there was no need to submit a written reply in the light of the verdict delivered in the Lawyers Forum case.

Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry then said that the regular hearing of the case will be started after a break.

Earlier, the counsel of the president, Syed Sharifuddin Pirzada, told the court that President Musharraf would continue in his dual offices till his successor takes over after November 15.

Advocate Akram Shaikh objected to this, saying that the President was not a party in the case.

The court asked the Attorney General to reply on the matter, and Malik Qayyum said that he needed a month to file a detailed reply.

The court said that it could only grant him a week to submit his reply.

ANI