Pakistan's Supreme Court on Thursday awarded jail terms to eight police and civil officials for manhandling Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry in March after he was suspended by President Pervez Musharraf.

A three-member bench headed by Justice Rana Bhagwandas handed down the prison terms ranging between 15 days and 30 days after holding the officials guilty of contempt of court and gave them 15 days to appeal.

Among those sentenced were Khalid Pervez, the former chief commissioner of Islamabad, Chaudhary Iftikhar Ahmed, the former Inspector General of Police of the capital, the suspended Deputy Commissioner of the city and police inspector Rukhsar Mahdi.

They were found guilty of manhandling Chaudhry on March 13, four days after he was suspended by Musharraf on charges of misuse of office.

Chaudhry has been at the centre of a confrontation between the judiciary and Musharraf and was reinstated in July by a Supreme Court bench.

The incident occurred when Chaudhry left his residence on foot to appear before the Supreme Judicial Council in the wake of his suspension.

Justice Javed Iqbal, who was then the acting chief justice, had initiated suo moto action in the matter and directed Justice Ijaz Afzal of the Peshawar high court to probe the incident.

The officials had earlier been transferred from their posts.