ISLAMABAD, 9 May 2007 — Pakistan’s Supreme Court drew up a broad panel of judges yesterday to consider a challenge by the country’s suspended top judge to a judicial watchdog’s proceedings against him, a court official said.

The announcement was the latest twist in a judicial crisis that began on March 9, when President Pervez Musharraf suspended Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry and ordered a judicial inquiry into accusations of misconduct and misuse of authority.

The move outraged the legal community, which sees it as an attack on judicial independence, and galvanized opposition to Musharraf in the run-up to elections.

The row has blown up into the most serious challenge to Musharraf’s authority since the army chief seized power in 1999.

The Supreme Court on Monday suspended the five-judge Supreme Judicial Council’s hearing into the accusations against Chaudhry, pending a decision on his challenge to the panel.

Acting Chief Justice Rana Bhagwandas yesterday drew up a bench of almost all of the Supreme Court’s 19 judges to consider Chaudhry’s challenge, a court official said.

The Supreme Court panel would convene from May 14 on a daily basis, said the official, who declined to be identified.

Chaudhry’s legal team is expected to raise objections to at least two of the judges on the panel.

Chaudhry is due to travel to the southern city of Karachi on Saturday to speak to lawyers.

The city is controlled by a pro-Musharraf party, which this week said it would hold a rally on Saturday to protest against political tricks “in the name of the independence of judiciary.”

Advertisements taken out by unidentified “impartial lawyers” have also appeared in Karachi newspapers in recent days questioning Chaudhry’s impartiality given all the support he has been getting from the political opposition.

Last weekend, Chaudhry attracted tens of thousands of supporters on a trip from Islamabad to the city of Lahore where he told a big rally states that ignored the rule of law and basic rights faced destruction.

Observers say Musharraf faces no imminent political threat because he enjoys the backing of the military but the crisis has weakened his position and could affect his plans.

Musharraf is due to seek re-election in September or October and wants to be re-elected by the national and provincial assemblies before they are dissolved for elections due around the turn of the year.

Analysts say his main motive in seeking the removal of the independent-minded Chaudhry is to have a more pliable man in place in case of a constitutional challenge to his plans.