Deposed Supreme Court chief justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry has rejected allegations by President Pervez Musharraf and said the manipulation of polls would not have been possible under an independent judiciary.
"If there was any proof of corruption against me, why have so many other judges of the superior judiciary been removed through an unconstitutional act?" he asked in a statement issued after Musharraf levelled charges of corruption and interference in judicial appointments against him.
Chaudhry, who was sacked and placed under house arrest after emergency was imposed on November 3, said an independent judiciary was not acceptable to Musharraf because he wanted to get himself re-elected as president and to "manipulate" the next general election to form a government of his choice.
"Election manipulation is not possible under an independent judiciary," Chaudhry's statement said.
The government, he said, had been edgy over cases related to Musharraf holding the dual offices of president and army chief, contempt of court in the deportation of former premier Nawaz Sharif when he returned to Pakistan in September and alleged irregularities in ownership of farm houses in Islamabad.
Chaudhry also said the assault on the judiciary was aimed at safeguarding the "vested interests of the powerful and the mighty".
He said such elements had turned against the judiciary because it was "blocking their personal gains at the cost of the interests of the country and its people".
He told The News that similar allegations levelled against him by Musharraf in March had been quashed by a 13-member bench of the Supreme Court.
Referring to Musharraf's allegation that the apex court had humiliated top bureaucrats, he said the court had to intervene when the "government failed to uphold the rule of law and provide legal rights to the people".
General Musharraf has vowed to take the oath of office for another term as a civilian President, hanging up his military uniform after the Supreme Court gives its verdict on his October 6 Presidential victory.
Musharraf announced on Sunday that general elections would be held by January 9 and a caretaker government would be in place by November 15 to oversee the poll process.