Pakistan judge challenges hearing

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Pakistani Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry has challenged the composition of a judicial body hearing allegations that he abused his powers.

President Musharraf suspended Mr Chaudhry last month, ordering him to appear before the Supreme Judicial Council which oversees judges' conduct.

The move sparked nationwide protests by lawyers, opposition political parties and civil rights activists.

Correspondents say that protests on Wednesday were more low-key.

Impediment

The BBC's Damian Grammaticas in Islamabad says that only about 1,000 people attended the latest demonstrations, considerably fewer than on previous occasions.

Mr Chaudhry has won a reputation for judicial independence

Our correspondent says that it looks as if the dispute could drag on for many weeks.

Mr Chaudhry's lawyers say at least three of the five judicial council members are biased against him and should excuse themselves from the bench.

Mr Chaudhry is supported by a variety of Islamic and secular opposition parties, who all believe that President Musharraf has abused his power in trying to remove the chief justice.

They say that the president sees Mr Chaudhry as an impediment to his efforts to hold on to power beyond this year.

Lawyers for Mr Chaudhry, who denies the allegations against him, say that the case should be heard in public instead of behind closed doors as it is now.

Angry demonstrators

They have been urging the Supreme Judicial Council to decide the issue of the judges' alleged bias before taking up other issues.

But the council has rejected their plea, saying all issues will be judged in a single verdict.

Following this decision, Mr Chaudhry's lawyers filed a constitutional petition in the Supreme Court, challenging the composition of the council and its powers to hear allegations against the chief justice.

Protesters burn an effigy of President Musharraf

"The proper forum for holding a chief justice accountable is not the judicial council but a full court of the Supreme Court," Munir A Malik, one of Mr Chaudhry's lawyers, told the media.

Meanwhile, lawyers and activists held demonstrations in all the major cities across the country to mark the council's fifth hearing in the case.

In Islamabad, angry demonstrators attacked some pro-government individuals and tore up the portraits of President Musharraf which they were carrying.

Our correspondent says that after almost eight years of military rule, this now appears to be the most serious threat to President Musharraf's time in office, and he is unlikely to emerge from it undamaged or undiminished.