Top constitutional experts disagree on whether the Supreme Court can stay an impeachment motion against President Pervez Musharraf. Eminent lawyer S.M. Zafar said the Supreme Court would not interfere in the parliament's affairs in usual circumstances but could stay an impeachment motion against the president. It could take up the issue if allegations in the charge sheet against the president warrant its attention, he said. Zafar said the Supreme Court could issue an interim injunction to stay the impeachment process ahead of the motion and added that the president could then plead the charge sheet against him is unjustified. However, another leading expert Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim said it was the right of the parliament to impeach the president under Article 47 of the Constitution, and that the Supreme Court did not have the constitutional authority to interfere with the impeachment process. Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) Secretary Muhammad Amin Javed said the Supreme Court could neither stay the process of impeachment nor entertain any challenge to the motion, because “it is being moved by the representatives of the 160 million people of Pakistan.” Veteran lawyer Latif Khosa said the Supreme Court could not interfere with the impeachment motion. Hamid Khan said the parliament was supreme and the Supreme Court had no mandate or jurisdiction to interfere in its affairs. He alleged that the incumbent Supreme Court judges were “handpicked by Musharraf”, and could therefore do anything. Justice (retd) Tariq Mehmood said the constitution did not authorize the Supreme Court to entertain a petition against the president's impeachment. __
