Islamabad, Apr. 1 : Pakistan's deposed Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry on Tuesday pressed for his reinstatement, saying that he was still the legal head of the country's apex court.

Hailing the end of ''one-man rule'' in Pakistan, Chaudhry told a gathering of lawyers in Quetta that his sacking by President General Musharraf was illegal.

"The judges who refused to swear a fresh oath of office during the emergency ''claim that we are all the judges of the courts, and those people who took the oath ... are not legal and constitutional judges,'' he told the lawyers.

Islamabad, Mar 24: In all likelihood, immediately after the swearing-in of Yousuf Raza Gillani as the new Pakistan premier tomorrow morning, the country’s deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry might become a free man, after spending more than five months in detention at home.

PPP sources said that the security forces deployed in front of Chaudhry's house in the Judges Enclave in Islamabad will be removed on Tuesday evening. This would mark the symbolic end of an era when absolute power was enjoyed by one man (read Musharraf) for eight years, five months and 13 days.

Lahore, Mar. 9 : Deposed Pakistan Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry will address all bars in the country by telephone on March 13.

Punjab Bar Council vice-chairman Mohammad Aslam Sindhu, Supreme Court Bar Association vice-president Ghulam Nabi Bhatti, Lahore High Court Bar Association secretary Rana Asadullah Khan, Lahore Bar Association president Manzoor Qadir and SCBA media coordinator Mohammad Azhar Siddiqui made this announcement.

Karachi, Feb 21 : In a telephone address on Thursday to the Sindh High Court Bar Association, deposed Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry said there were no constitutional hurdles to returning the judges to their posts.

“I was deposed by an executive order and I can be restored by an executive order. There is no need of two-thirds majority of the parliament,” justice Chaudhry said.

“People have given their verdict, which shows that they have rejected the policies of the government,” the dawn quoted justice Chaudhry, as saying.

Karachi, Feb.

Peshawar 31 Jan: A group of retired Pakistani military officers have urged President Pervez Musharraf to step down and hand over power to the chief justice he sacked nearly three months ago.

The demand came at a meeting of the Pakistan Ex-Servicemen Society in Islamabad, the latest show of dissent against former army chief Musharraf by the group of 200 retired generals, air marshals and other officers.

"Musharraf should step down and hand over power to Justice [Iftikhar Muhammad] Chaudhry, who is still constitutional chief justice," former Pakistan Air Force chief Asghar Khan told reporters.