I am still Chief Justice, says Iftikhar Chaudhry

A week after his release from house arrest, Pakistan's deposed top judge said on Tuesday that he still considers himself the Chief Justice, but has held back from going to the Supreme Court to discharge his responsibilities to respect the mandate of the parliament.

"I am still the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court as per the constitution and no body can bar me from discharging my duty as the CJP, but I did not go to discharge my responsibilities after my detention has ended to respect the mandate of the Parliament," Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry said at a lawyers convention in his home city of Quetta.

Describing the February 18 election results that led to the routing of the pro-Musharraf Pakistan Muslim League-Q as a silent revolution brought about by the masses, the deposed judge said that he still considers himself the CJP with the firm belief that the destination, for which the lawyers had launched the struggle, was not far away.

"The people of the country have given their verdict in the silent revolution that law and justice is for all," Chaudhry was quoted as saying by Pakistan's Geo News. "The silent revolution has entirely changed the political culture in the country," he said.

Hundreds of lawyers welcomed Chaudhry in his home city in Balochistan province on Monday as he began a drive across Pakistan to boost support for the reinstatement of judges sacked by President Pervez Musharraf in 2007.

President Musharraf on Monday swore in a 24-member cabinet, with Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz members sporting black arms bands in a symbolic protest against the former General.