Bhagwandas to favour Musharraf?

LAHORE: A nine-member bench of the Supreme court of Pakistan, headed by Justice Rana Bhagwandas, will decide on Monday whether General Musharraf is eligible to contest the presidential election on October 6 or not.

The government circles do not expect a hostile verdict due to the fact that the reinstated Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry is not on the bench  and Bhagwandas is keeping his usual low profile.

Attorney General of Pakistan, Malik Mohammad Qayyum, expressed hope in Lahore on Sunday that the bench headed by “a sensible Bhagwandas” would give a friendly verdict that could allow Musharraf to contest the election in his military uniform.

“The apex court would not like to derail the democratic setup by disallowing the incumbent president to run for a second five year term and thus inviting an extreme step like martial law.”

Malik Qayyum, who had to quit as a Lahore High Court judge on corruption charges in 2002, said that the apex court would give a one-time waiver to Musharraf.    

On the other hand, there are many in the opposition are hoping that the apex court would not allow Musharraf to run for presidency. “Judges speak through their judgments is perfectly true in the case of Rana Bhagwandas,” said Munir Malik, the president of Supreme Court Bar Association.

As head of the bench, Malik said he does speak during proceedings to conduct the hearing as per the rules and law, but doesn’t make any remark or comment that reflects his mind on the matter before the court.