ISLAMABAD, Oct 21 Former attorney general Sardar Latif Khosa stunned Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry on Wednesday by alleging that he had got him removed as the government's first law officer.

“We don't know who got you removed,” the chief justice said, asking him to put this question to his government.

The Supreme Court told Latif Khosa, now the prime minister's adviser, to submit a written reply to the allegations of corruption against him in two weeks.

A three-judge bench, also comprising Justice Ghulam Rabbani and Justice Jawwad S. Khawaja, had summoned Mr Khosa for Wednesday to answer the allegations levelled by Maghfoor Shah, a former general manager of the National Highway Authority and a NAB convict.

Latif Khosa has been accused of having taken a bribe of Rs3 million from Mr Maghfoor for getting the decision on a case in his favour when Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar was chief justice of the Supreme Court.

He lost the case and Maghfoor was sentenced to five years' imprisonment and fined over Rs3 million and $200,000 on corruption charges.

Notices were also issued to complainant Maghfoor Shah, his wife Dr Mazhar Jamal, Advocate Mian Tariq, a witness, Umar Daraz, an assistant to Mr Khosa, and Deputy Attorney General Dil Mohammad Alizai to appear before the court during the next hearing.

The bench ignored a request to ban the media from covering the case.

Mr Khosa requested the chief justice to recuse himself from the bench in his case.

He later told reporters that he would move an application to the court in this regard. “If the chief justice himself has indulged in point scoring, then what can we do,” Mr Khosa said.

The chief justice suggested him to submit his reply, instead of “making the issue a joke”.

The bench made it clear that the accuser would be awarded exemplary punishment and sent to jail if he failed to prove the corruption charges against the former attorney general. The latter must face the music because the matter involved prestige and dignity of the court, the bench observed.

Mr Khosa dismissed the allegations as “baseless and unfounded”, saying that being a practising lawyer for 40 years he could not think of getting bribe in the name of judges. He alleged that he was being scandalised in the media.

“I could have been heard in chambers or the matter be referred to the Pakistan Bar Council instead of hearing in the open court,” he argued.

“We thought it appropriate, but the hearing in chambers would have created doubts. Besides, the complainant had involved the apex court judges by alleging that the bribe amount was distributed among them,” the CJ observed.

“I have no right to occupy this office as being a chief justice I cannot defend the court or do justice. We have no personal grudge against you (Mr Khosa) and all are equal before us,” the CJ observed and asked the former AG again to furnish the reply.

Mr Khosa said he was ready to file a reply, but would mention “all the facts to keep the record straight”.

He recalled an incident and alleged that he had been disgraced by some lawyers in a hotel in Lahore in front of Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, but he did not stop them.

“You are mentioning about our restoration, but this matter has no link with that,” the CJ said, adding “Everyone knows how we were restored. Our hands are clean.”

Mr Khosa also cited a statement of Supreme Court Bar Association president Ali Ahmad Kurd that people like 'pharaohs' were sitting in courts. “The entire judicial apparatus has been disgraced because of this (statement),” he deplored.

“We want to save the judiciary from such disgrace,” the chief justice remarked.

Dr Mazhar Jamal, the wife of the complainant, claimed that all allegations were true and would be proved in the court.