A judge hearing a petition by Pakistan's chief justice against his suspension today told a government lawyer not to "scare" him by referring to a similar crisis nearly 20 years ago in Malaysia.

President Pervez Musharraf removed Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on March 9 citing misconduct, sparking violent protests and a spiralling political crisis.

The Supreme Court is hearing an appeal by Chaudhry against his suspension and also against Musharraf's referral of the charges against him to a panel of senior judges, called the Supreme Judicial Council.

Government lawyers have cited a 1988 judicial crisis in Malaysia , during which its chief justice, Salleh Abas ( left ), was brought before a tribunal convened by the then prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad on grounds of misconduct.

Mahathir suspended five Supreme Court judges after they stayed proceedings against the chief justice, although he was later removed by the tribunal while two judges were fired by the premier.

Muffled laughter

"Please don't scare us by citing the Malaysian case," the presiding Pakistani judge hearing the case, Khalil-ur-Rehman Ramday, said when government lawyer Malik Muhammad Qayyum raised the matter.

There was muffled laughter in the packed courtroom when Ramday said: "We want to forget the Malaysian case as a bad dream."

Chaudhry's lawyer Aitzaz Ahsan said the decision and Mahathir's treatment of the judges received "worldwide condemnation."

Chief government lawyer Syed Sharifuddin Pirzada also cited the Malaysian chief justice's case last week.

The Supreme Court on May 7 suspended the Supreme Judicial Council's inquiry after Chaudhry filed a petition challenging the legality of his dismissal.

Opponents say Musharraf, an army general who seized power in a 1999 coup, wants to weaken the courts and make it easier for him to stay on as army chief past this year's deadline set by the constitution.

Opposition politicising the row

But Musharraf told a public meeting in the northwestern city of Mansehra on Monday that there would be wider effects if the opposition continued to politicise the row.

"If the falsehood wins and truth is suppressed it would be very unfortunate. It will also be a sad day for me because it would not be possible to maintain the pace of economic progress that we have achieved," he said.

Pakistan's economy grew by 6.6 percent in 2005-6 while in 2004-5 it grew by 8.4 percent, its highest in 20 years. At least a quarter of its population still lives below the poverty line.