Musharraf has now referred the case of chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry to Pakistan's top judicial accountability body, the supreme judicial council, Information Minister Mohammad Ali Durrani told AFP.

"It is confirmed. The president has taken the action after numerous complaints and having personally heard the chief justice. He has acted under the constitutional requirement," Durrani said.

"The president has sent the reference to the supreme judicial council on charges of misconduct and misuse of authority," he said.

An official statement said Musharraf had appointed Javed Iqbal, another senior judge, as acting chief justice.

Chaudhry, 58, who was appointed chief justice in June 2005, was the subject of a legal petition alleging that he obtained for his son a position in the police service despite a lack of proper qualifications.