ISLAMABAD - A reported telephone call by Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry about a decision on the petition of Presidential election prompted the authorities to impose state of emergency in the country.A government official, when asked about the reasons behind the move, said that Justice Iftikhar reportedly informed one of his friends on telephone that the Supreme Court was going to hand down verdict against President Musharraf, which was tapped by the secret agencies.The agencies intercepted a call from CJ's phone few days ago in which he even disclosed the number of judges favouring and opposing this decision, and this forced the top policymakers to devise the emergency plan, the official said.The official, working closely with one of the Presidential aides, further said that the government took extra time in execution of this plan so as to make it safer."They have been holding clandestine meetings for the last few nights, which cost them almost an extra day than the estimated time to execute the emergency plan," the official disclosed. "Iftikhar Chaudhry told his friend that eight judges gave their opinion against General Pervez Musharraf, while three others were in his favour," the official said adding that this information was substantial for secret agencies to take the extreme action of emergency imposition. Meanwhil e, it was learnt that Pakistan People's Party Chairperson Benazir Bhutto recommended the name of Justice Abdul Hamid Dogar for new Chief Justice of Pakistan."The top government quarters took BB in confidence on the issue and she nodded in favour of Mr Dogar," the official stated.To authenticate his information, he said that Justice Dogar was appointed by Benazir Bhutto in 1995. Meanwhile, another source revealed that a midnight crackdown against lawyers' community was expected on Saturday while the judges refusing to take a fresh oath under new PCO were being put under security house arrest. He said that all important leaders of the lawyers were also likely to be taken into custody.

(This emergency has nothing to do with the 'War on Terror'. Arresting 1500 lawyers, all the 70 members of the Human rights Commission of Pakistan , and the entires Law Faculty of LUMS University in Lahore, did no damage to insurgents in the North West of Pakistan. The constitutional crisis has distracted attention away from them. The assault by Musharraf is against the 'rule of law'. It has undermined whatever little faith the people had in his judgemment. 

Every military dictator promulgated a PCO and removed judges he feared were independent, and appointed his favourites. They got away with it every time because they did so soon after their take over when they were popular. Musharraf has the dubious distinction of promulgating a PCO twice, the  second time when his public support was in single figures. He is not going to get away with it this time. He was holding the office of COAS in violation of the Military Law; he held the office of the President vide the 17th Amendment to the Constitution.   Now that he has suspended the Constitution, he neither a legal President nor the COAS. His status is that of a criminal who has committed  the crime of 'high treason' under Article 6 of the Constitution.