Suspension of Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry the Supreme Court. Later it was explained that the senior-most judge after the Chief Justice was Justice Rana Bhagwandas, but since he was away from the country, Justice Javed Iqbal being the second in line was made the acting head of the apex court until Justice Bhagwandas would return. The move to make Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry 'non-functional' was immediately followed by yet another decision by the president to send a reference under Article 209 of the Constitution of Pakistan to the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) to investigate allegations of misconduct against him. Justice Chaudhry was called on by the President
Suspension of Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry for two hours and was adjourned until Friday 16 March. Justice Chaudhry issued a four-page press release denouncing the moves against him, saying that neither President Musharraf nor the SJC had the authority to prevent him from working. He also reported that his telephones at home had been disconnected and vehicles confiscated. CJP Justice Iftikhar requested that because his lawyers were not allowed to meet him by the government, the hearing should be adjourned till 26 March 2007. SJC did not entertain it and the next date of hearing was announced in a press release to be 21 March 2007