In Karachi, some 400 lawyers held protests at the city court. Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif addressed the lawyers on phone, saying that Chaudhry’s suspension was a direct assault on the judiciary.

Meanwhile, Opposition parties have announced a countrywide agitation in this connection. Terming the move as “illegal, unconstitutional and an attack on the judiciary”, they criticised the composition of the SJC too.

US-based rights body slams Musharraf

New York: Blasting Pakistan for “arbitrary detention” of the Chief Justice, a US-based human rights watchdog has demanded his immediate release, and called for cessation of the police crackdown on lawyers staging peaceful protests.

Urging release of the chief justice, Human Rights Watch also appealed to the US and other governments to push President Pervez Musharraf to promptly take meaningful steps to restore respect for the rule of law in Pakistan.

The watchdog termed the dismissal and detention of the senior judge as “illegal”.