The top judge's defence lawyer asked the judiciary to rally behind him in the same manner as the Army had supported Musharraf during the 1999 coup.
ISLAMABAD: Drawing a parallel between the suspension of Pakistan Chief Justice and removal from power of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, the top judge's defence lawyer on Thursday asked the judiciary to rally behind him in the same manner as the Army had supported President Pervez Musharraf during the 1999 coup.
Aietzaz Ahesan, the defence lawyer of Iftikar M Chaudhry, asked the full bench of Apex court hearing his petition against the suspension to rally behind the top judge, the same way as the Pakistan army backed President Pervez Musahrraf and staged a military coup overthrowing then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif after he sacked Musharraf as chief of army in 1999.
Sharif was overthrown by some top Generals loyal to Musharraf who helped his plane land in Karachi.
Musharraf said in his book that permission was denied for his plane to land and it landed minutes before it ran out of fuel.
Sharif was later prosecuted by an anti-terrorism court and sentenced to life imprisonment for preventing Musharraf's plane from landing.
He was subsequently sent on exile to Jeddah in 2000 and later he shifted his residence to London from where he currently ran his campaign against Musharraf.
Reading from Musharraf's autobiography 'In the Line of Fire,' Ahesan said the army rallied behind Musharraf and backed him in staging a coup and asked judiciary to unitedly back Chaudhry.
Reacting to Ahesan's arguments on Chaudhry's petition challenging the presidential reference against him, Justice Khalil-ud-Ramdey, heading the bench said any reaction has to be "legal and under the judicial framework".
Meanwhile lawyers and opposition supporters took out protests in various parts of Pakistan over the suspension of the chief justice.
Demonstrators have rallied in the eastern city of Lahore urging President Musharraf to step down.
They also called for free and fair elections and demanded that it should be held as soon as possible.
Some lawyers also boycotted courts in Lahore.
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