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K J M Varma in Islamabad
Pakistan Supreme Court has constituted a nine-member bench to hear petitions challenging the legality of the presidency of Pervez Musharraf and his decision to get elected for a five-year term through a referendum, as two of the applications come up for hearing on Wednesday.
The petitions filed by leader of Pakistan's fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami and also by the Rawalpindi Bar Association would be heard by special Supreme Court Bench headed by Chief Justice Sheikh Riaz Ahmad, local newspaper Dawn reported on Tuesday.
However, the Court is unlikely to take up another petition seeking a declaration that there was no bar in the Constitution to prevent Musharraf from holding a referendum to fill the vacuum created after the resignation of elected President Mohammad Rafiq Tarar, it said.
The petitions questioning the legality of the referendum gained significance as most of the mainstream political parties as well as Pakistani media termed the referendum to be held on April 30 as 'unconstitutional'.
The petitioners also sought an immediate stay order on holding the referendum.
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