(AKI) - Gunmen in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi fired more than a dozen shots at the home of the lawyer representing Pakistan's suspended chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on Thursday. According to a report on the website of the Pakistani television channel Geo TV, the police have registered a case against some unindentified people involved in the attack on the house of Muni A Malik, who is also president of the Supreme Court Bar Association. "Unidentified people resorted to firing at my house at about 3:30 am when I was watching an special program on TV,” Munir A Malik was quoted as saying.Malik said that the bullets hit the room where his daughter was and that she had "escaped death miraculously." He also said that the windows of his house were shattered in the attack.
Thursday's attack comes just two days before Chaudhry is due to visit Karachi to attend a meeting of lawyers. The government of Sindh province, of which Karachi is capital, has asked the suspended chief justice to put off the visit for fear of possible attacks by terrorists who could take advantage of the situation to launch attacks.
Police said that they have arrested at least 12 people on Wednesday night for planning to sabotage Chaudhry's rally. However reports quoting another one of Chaudhry's lawyers have said that the trip to Karachi would continue. Pakistani president General Pervez Musharraf suspended Chaudhry on 9 March over unspecified allegations that he had abused his authority, and he now faces mounting public resentment and protest against that decision and against military rule. Chaudhry's suspension led to numerous protests throughout the country and lawyers throughout Pakistan have boycotted courtroom proceedings.
The suspended chief justice has a reputation for taking a strong stance against human rights abuses and government wrongdoing. Critics accuse Musharraf of trying to muzzle the judiciary ahead of elections scheduled for later this year. Musharraf, however, insists he acted according to the constitution - a view disputed by many legal experts A pro-Musharraf rally is also expected to be held on 12 May in the capital Islamabad.