ISLAMABAD, 20 April 2007 — The Supreme Court yesterday issued notices to President Pervez Musharraf, the Supreme Judicial Council, the federation of Pakistan and the attorney general on the petition filed by suspended Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry.

A full bench of the top court comprising Justice Sardar Mohammad Raza Khan, Justice Ejaz Ahmad Chaudhry and Justice Hamid Ali Mirza, set aside three objections raised by the Islamabad registry of the top court on Chaudhry’s petition and took up the case.

Chaudhry’s lead lawyer Aitzaz Ahsan argued that the president did not have the jurisdiction to file a reference against the chief justice under Article 209 of the constitution, because the article clearly states that only the chief justice of Pakistan would head the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) and an acting chief justice cannot head the panel. “The SJC is not the competent forum to try the suspended chief justice,” Ahsan told the court before it adjourned.

The court then decided to hold the hearing next week on whether to handle the case or leave it to the judicial panel.

The country plunged into a judicial crisis on March 9 when Musharraf suspended Chaudhry and ordered an inquiry into misconduct charges, enraging the legal community and handing the opposition parties a popular cause in an election year.

Chaudhry’s lawyers have also challenged the competence of the SJC to hear the case as they question the impartiality of three members.

After hearing the petition lodged by Chaudhry’s lawyers, the Supreme Court adjourned yesterday and decided to reconvene on April 24 — the very day the judicial panel is due to resume its hearings into the case, or reference, against Chaudhry.

“We will appear before the Supreme Court before we go to the SJC,” said Ahsan.

While the legal chess game is played out, some of the aspects of the drama surrounding the judicial crisis has begun to fade, as indeed Musharraf’s advisers hoped it would. Street protests by lawyers and political activists have become smaller and less boisterous, as the panel’s hearings have dragged on, and there have been no mass demonstrations.

The government would be interested in buying time in the hope that the agitation will lose steam, according to legal analysts.

“Prolonging the hearing of this reference is going to suit the government,” Anees Jilani, a legal analyst, told Reuters.

Jilani believes Musharraf’s best way out could be to admit a mistake, reinstate Chaudhry, and find a scapegoat in the Cabinet to sack.

Minister for Law, Justice and Human Rights Chaudhry Wasi Zafar said yesterday that the poor attendance at rallies outside the Supreme Court on Wednesday showed that attempts to mislead the people had failed. The same situation was witnessed elsewhere, especially in Lahore where out of 13,000 lawyers only a few hundred came out to protest, he told state television, PTV. He said some lawyers were trying to politicize the issue as they were active members of political parties.

“Allow the SJC to freely give its opinion on the reference. The government is bound to accept its findings”, he said.

Zafar said the presidential reference would not be withdrawn as it contained valid material, adding that main contents of the reference had not yet been made public. He also said that no case against any sitting judge was pending at the SJC.

Details of the charges against Chaudhry have not been disclosed, but one is believed to be that the chief justice used his influence to secure his son a government job. It is uncertain whether Musharraf will seek a second term from the sitting national and provincial assemblies or those that emerge from elections due later this year or early 2008. He is also supposed to quit as army chief this year, if he wants to carry on as president.

Chaudhry’s refusal to go without a fight represents the most serious challenge to Musharraf’s authority since he came to power more than seven years ago. Few people expect the affair to bring Musharraf down. He has, after all, the backing of the military.