February 19, 2008	Tuesday	Safar 11, 1429

ISLAMABAD, Feb 18: Deposed chief justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry has rejected the allegations levelled against him by President Pervez Musharraf and said he considers it below his dignity to respond to such “insinuations”.

“I have spoken to the deposed CJ who has rejected the allegations with disdain and termed them as his and the nation’s moral victory,” advocate Athar Minallah told reporters on Monday outside the heavily barricaded police picket set up on the road leading to the Judges Colony.

High Court Bar Association President Sardar Asmatullah also joined Athar Minallah along with few members of the civil society, who while carrying placards raised anti-Musharraf slogans.

President Musharraf in his interview to Jemima Khan, former wife of Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf Chairman Imran Khan, had described the deposed CJ as “the scum of the earth — a third- rate man — a corrupt man.”

“Due to security reasons we cannot allow you to go towards the judge’s enclave,” Deputy Superintendent Police (DSP) Secretariat Circle Zubair Sheikh told the reporters.

Athar Minallah said, the deposed judges including Iftikhar Chaudhry, Sardar Muhammad Raza Khan, Justice Mian Shakirullah Jan and former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) Tariq Mehmood were denied the opportunity to cast their votes.

“They were not even allowed to come to their lawns against the claims of caretaker interior and information ministers,” Mr Minallah said.