PAKISTAN:Pakistan's suspended chief justice won the first round in a lengthy legal battle with the government yesterday when the supreme court decided to consider his challenge against accusations of misconduct.
President Pervez Musharraf's suspension of chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry on March 9th sparked protests by lawyers and the opposition which have turned into a broad campaign for the restoration of democracy.
It is the most serious challenge to the authority of the president since he seized power in a 1999 coup and threatens stability in a nuclear-armed country on the front line of a global battle to defeat terrorism.
While political tension has mounted the supreme court has for nearly a month been listening to complex legal arguments aimed at determining which judicial body should rule on the misconduct charges against Mr Chaudhry.
He challenged the impartiality of a panel set up to conduct the inquiry and its hearings were halted pending the outcome of the supreme court's deliberations.
The court brushed aside a government attempt to block Mr Chaudhry's challenge and said that it would get on with considering the case.
"We are very happy and satisfied that the court has begun regular proceedings," Aitzaz Ahsan, the leading counsel on Mr Chaudhry's legal team, said.
A government lawyer rejected the notion that the ruling was a setback. "Nothing has been said against the government. There is nothing adverse," said Ahmed Raza Kasuri.
The government appears determined to get rid of Mr Chaudhry and on Sunday said that a new misconduct complaint had been prepared against him.
The crisis has erupted in the run-up to elections and analysts believe that Gen Musharraf's main motive for seeking to dismiss Mr Chaudhry stems from doubts that he would be supportive in the event of constitutional challenges to the president's election plan.
Gen Musharraf has said that he will seek re-election by the sitting national and provincial assemblies before they are dissolved for a general election around the end of the year.
He is believed to be reluctant to give up his post of army chief, as he is constitutionally required to do by the end of the year.
According to a statement filed in the supreme court last week, the accusations against Mr Chaudhry include falsifying expenses, harassing judges, bias in appointments and intimidating police and civil servants.
The chief justice has denied wrongdoing and has refused to resign.