Islamabad: Pakistan's Supreme Court, hearing the legal challenge to President Pervez Musharraf's re-election in uniform, said on Monday that the issue of martial law continued to haunt the country.
Justice Khalil-ur-Rehman Ramday, a member of the 11-judge bench hearing the matter, said it was not correct to say that martial law had been buried once and for all. “We kept on burying martial law every time, but it is still haunting us. It is not easy to bury it,” he observed.
Justice Syed Jamshed Ali said the Army Act has been deterrent to efforts to do away with martial law. Aitzaz Ahsan, the counsel for retired judge Wajihuddin Ahmad, who unsuccessfully contested the October 6 presidential poll, said martial law could be buried if the court performed its duty.
“This is the right time to bury martial law as an Army Chief is standing at the exit door of dictatorship. The court has to react courageously,” he said.
The apex court, which earlier said it would give its verdict in the matter by the end of this month, later adjourned the hearing till Tuesday.
Justice Javed Iqbal, who heads the 11-member bench, has said that the court will not be deterred by fears of Gen Musharraf imposing martial law in the event of a ruling that goes against him.
The embattled military ruler swept the presidential poll that was boycotted by the Opposition parties, but cannot be sworn in till the apex court decides on his candidature.
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