Deposed chief justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry emerged from house arrest March 24 after Pakistan's newly elected Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, a longtime loyalist of slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, ordered police to pull back razor wire barricades and release judges ousted by President Pervez Musharraf.

Released judghe Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry AP PHOTO

Chaudhry and his family had been under house arrest since Musharraf declared a state of emergency in November and sacked 60 senior judges ahead of a Supreme Court ruling that could have invalidated his re-election as president.

The freeing of Chaudhry — who emerged last year as the main check on Musharraf's eight-year domination of Pakistan — is a telling sign of how power is shifting from the military to civilians.

Prominent lawyer Athar Minallah said the four Supreme Court judges who had been under detention were now free. State media said the restrictions were lifted after Gilani's order.

But more critical than freeing the judges will be whether the new government honors its promise to reinstate Chaudhry and his colleagues within 30 days — a move that could make Musharraf's position increasingly untenable.

Some believe it could prompt the president to resign even though he has vowed to serve out his five-year term. In November, he gave up his powerful post as army chief.

Musharraf has sounded increasingly bitter about Chaudhry, declaring his reinstatement legally impossible. On a recent state visit, he even branded him "scum of the Earth."