Sharif aide files petition in Pakistan SC to unseat Musharraf

As the deadlock continued over the formation of a new government, former premier Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-N has filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging Pervez Musharraf’s presidency. A senior PML-N leader, Syed Zafar Ali Shah filed a petition yesterday asking the apex court to direct Musharraf to quit, as the three-year deadline set for him to relinquish powers to an elected government has ended.

It was another petition by Shah in 2000 that prompted the apex court to legalise Musharraf’s 1999 military coup and fix a three-year deadline for him to hold the elections and hand over power to an elected government. In his petition, Shah has urged the Chief Justice of Pakistan to take over the office of President, as the term of Musharraf as chief executive expired on October 11, 2002 as per the court judgement. Shah has asked the court to ‘‘direct Musharraf to relinquish the office of President” and questioned the ‘‘fictitious’’ April referendum wherein he got elected for five years. (PTI)