Pakistan Supreme Court order on Chaudhry likely Friday

Islamabad, July 20(IANS) Pakistan's Supreme Court is Friday likely to pass a verdict or reserve its ruling on a constitutional petition challenging President Pervez Musharraf's suspension of Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry.

An unnamed aide to Musharraf was quoted as saying Friday in The News that the president would not like to drag on the issue after the Supreme Court decision, even if it goes against the government.

A 13-member full bench of the apex court is hearing a clutch of petitions filed on Chaudhry's behalf against Musharraf's reference to the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) on the president's March 9 decision to suspend the judge.

Chaudhry's chief counsel Aitzaz Ahsan told the court Thursday evening that he would take 45 minutes to complete his right of reply to the government defence.

He asked the court to quash the presidential reference filed on the basis of statements of intelligence agencies' chiefs and said that if it was not quashed it would "prove to be the root of all evil", the newspaper said.