The Supreme Court on Friday fixed November 5 for hearing a plea of the Supreme Court Bar Association that sought a statement from the government that it was not contemplating imposition of martial law or emergency in the country.

The newly elected president of the Bar, Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan, said: “The media is abuzz with wild speculations spurred by deliberate government leaks and statements by federal ministers that President Pervez Musharraf is engaged in consultations to take extra-constitutional steps in order to pre-empt possible adverse judgment against his candidature.”

He said broad hints were also being dropped by senior members of the government that the judiciary would be purged of independent judges and powers and tenure of judges may curtailed. He said the lawyers would resist such attempts and boycott judges who take fresh oath under a proposed provisional constitutional order.

Zia ul Haq promulgated such order in 1979 and Musharraf in 2000 to sack several dozen independent judges.

“The government is promoting a sense of uncertainty in the country by fanning rumours about martial law and emergency. Another purpose seems to be to intimidate the Supreme Court and secure a desired verdict,” Ahsan said.

Ahsan is also the lead counsel for presidential candidate, Justice Wajihuddin Ahmad, who has challenged Musharraf’s candidature.

The 11-member Bench of the court, headed by Justice Javed Iqbal, also heard attorney-general Qayyum Malik on the speculations. Malik said he had no knowledge of any plans to impose emergency or martial law nor had been consulted on these issues.

“The martial law comes without asking anybody and cannot be stayed by the court,” he remarked, adding “on his part he is convinced no such steps are being considered because it would serve nobody’s purpose”.

Justice Javed made it clear that the court would not be intimidated by any threat and would decide the case on the basis of constitution and the law. He further assured Aitzaz that present strength of the Bench would stay and any attempt to drop undesirable judges would be resisted.

LTTE’s political head S.P. Thamilselvam was killed in a raid by the Sri Lanka Air Force on Friday. Thamilselvam (43) was killed along with five others when air force jets bombed the single story building they were occupying in the rebel stronghold of Kilinochchi.

The death of Thamilselvam is a major blow to the group as it faces increasing pressure from the government that is keen to finish the military of rebels.

The LTTE Peace Secretariat was the first to announce his death. In a statement posted on its website, it announced “the head of our organisation’s political division, Brig. S.P. Thamilselvam, was killed by the Sri Lankan Air Force aerial bombing.” It also named the others killed in the attack which included four of his bodyguards and a personal assistant.

Soon after the government claimed responsibility for the attack stating that air sorties were carried out following extensive air surveillance and on real-time ground information which resulted in the accurate raid.

Thamilselvam joined the LTTE in 1985 and is reporedly close to its leader Velupillai Prabhakarn, even though media reports have surfaced in recent months ofdisagreement between the two on moves by the LTTE leader to install his son as his successor. He travelled abroad several times as the head of the LTTE’s delgation to peace talks and ironicallay travelled in Sri Lanka Air Force helicopters several times from Kilinochchi to the country’s main air port in Colombo and back.

Thamilselvam’s death is likely to further strengthen the hand of the government which has made it clear in recent days that there was no use engaging in peace talks with the rebels unless they are crushed militarily.

It may also escalate violence by the LTTE which only a week ago launched an air and land attack on a major air force base at Anuradhapura in the north central province using 21 of its suicide cadres and destroyed more than 14 aircrafts.

That attack on the camp may have bolstered the LTTE cadres who had taken a beating after being ousted from the eastern province by govenrment troops but Friday’s death of their senior member, who has been heading the LTTE delegations to peace talks since 2002, is likely to be a blow to their efforts to take the upper hand in the military clashes between the two sides.