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Summary LHC has adjourned Presidents dual office case hearing till Nov 21.
The Lahore High Court on Wednesday adjourned till November 21 the hearing of a case regarding the holding of dual offices by President Asif Ali Zardari.A five-member bench, headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, heard the case.During the hearing, the court forwarded a petition filed by the Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) which had pleaded for the president’s disqualification to a single-judge bench.Justice Umar Ata Bandial said that a full bench could not hear the petition, adding that, it would be up to the discretion of the single-judge bench whether or not to call for the formation of a larger bench.Presidents counsel, Wasim Sajjad, said that the court had not issued any order pertaining to the issue, adding that, rather it had simply spoken of its expectation.Sajjad said that contempt of court proceedings could not be initiated on the basis of not meeting an expectation.The court inquired of the president’s counsel as to why the court order pertaining to a cessation of political activities in the Presidency had not yet been implemented.Responding to which, Sajjad said ‘contempt of court’ was in the category of criminal cases and added that the president enjoyed immunity from prosecution in such cases.Later, the court while adjourned the case hearing directed Sajjad to present his arguments pertaining to presidential immunity in criminal cases.
