SC verdict on Sharifs’ case likely today

[LahoreEstate]

ISLAMABAD: Hearing of the Sharif brothers’ electoral eligibility case is likely to complete today (Tuesday), and the decision by a three-member bench of the Supreme Court is imminent.

The court directed the attorney general to appear today.

On Monday Ahmad Raza Qasuri, senior counsel for Khurram Shah and Noor Elahi – who challenged the eligibility of Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif – presented DVDs and newspaper clippings of the Sharifs’ statements and speeches against the judiciary and urged the court to declare them disqualified for abusing and maligning the judiciary and attempting to divide it.

He said the application filed by the men who proposed and seconded Nawaz that the matter be referred to the chief justice to form a bench consisting of judges who did not take oath under the November 3, 2007 PCO was unwarranted, as the incumbent Supreme Court was functioning within its jurisdiction and was competent to hear the case.

He said the pre-November 3 judiciary had crossed its limits in the name of judicial activism, creating a crisis between the judiciary and the administration.

Referring to Section 14 (5a) of the Representation of Peoples’ Act 1976, he said Shahbaz was a defaulter and not entitled even to file nomination papers.

He also said the pardon given to Nawaz had ended his sentence, but the conviction remained intact.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp...2009_pg1_6