ISLAMABAD, 25 January 2008 — Deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry and two other judges — Justice Shakirullah Jan and Justice Raza Khan — have been asked to vacate their official residences.
The judges refused to receive notices to this effect served by the public works department.
Chaudhry reportedly told government officials who came to serve him the notice that he was still the chief justice and would not vacate the official residence until his retirement.
Meanwhile, riot police used tear gas and batons here yesterday to disperse hundreds of protesters chanting slogans against President Pervez Musharraf.
Around 400 people including lawyers, hard-line Islamists and supporters of cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan protested against Musharraf when police stopped them from visiting Chaudhry, who remains under house arrest.
The protesters tried to break through a police barricade outside the upmarket Marriott Hotel, which is near Chaudhry’s house, but were forced back by baton-wielding police who then fired tear gas.
Waving black flags, the protesters regrouped and chanted: “We will lay down our lives for the chief justice.” Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was prevented from meeting Chaudhry on Wednesday.
Chaudhry became a democracy icon when he fought back against Musharraf’s initial attempt to oust him in March 2007 on charges of misconduct.
Musharraf declared an emergency and finally sacked the judge on Nov. 3 amid fears that the Supreme Court was set to overturn his victory in a presidential election the previous month.
— Additional input from agencies
