The dramatic and unprecedented “suspension” of Pakistan’s Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhary by the General Pervez Musharraf on March 9 has a touch of irony and tactical flourish to it. A little over six years ago in October 1999, a seemingly confident Pakistani prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, dared to “sack” his army chief — General Pervez Musharraf — and the script went off in an entirely unexpected direction as Pakistan now knows. By “suspending” a CJ, has set off a chain reaction?

With protests gathering popularity, the astute general has already tried to make amends by hinting at a much deeper conspiracy afoot to unseat him and sabotage his sincere efforts to salvage Pakistan from internal violence. More cynical observers have averred that this move to suspend the CJ may have stemmed from the fact that the worthy judge was proving to be too “independent” and may not have acquiesced in the Musharraf intent to extend his presidency with devious legal dexterity. It may be recalled that last June, the Pakistan Supreme Court exhibited its first signs of judicial autonomy when it rejected a government move, ostensibly supported by PM Shaukat Aziz, to sell 75 per cent of the state-owned Pakistan Steel Mills to a Saudi-Russian-Pakistani consortium. Over the intervening period, till the current “suspension”, the military leadership was increasingly uncomfortable with a spate of court rulings that ranged from seeking accountability for ‘disappeared’ persons to taking the executive to task for various transgressions.

Has the otherwise astute General Musharraf bitten off more than he can chew? One op-ed piece in the feisty Daily Times (Lahore, March 18) noted wryly of the CJ conundrum: “...the Government of Pakistan, is traditionally given to shooting itself in the foot; as regularly as that, it also puts the injured foot in its mouth. But the Great Leader (Musharraf) has to do something different, more in line with the panache he always displays. So, he seems to have decided to shoot himself in the head.”

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