Islamabad, Aug 10 - Eleven days after Pakistan's Supreme Court invalidated then president Pervez Musharraf's November 2007 declaration of an emergency and sacking of apex court judges, police were Monday asked to register a case against the former military dictator for ordering the house arrest of the judges.

Additional Sessions Judge Muhammad Akmal Khan passed the order after hearing a petition filed by advocate Aslam Ghuman, who contended that Musharraf had ordered the house arrest of the judges to prolong his rule.

The judge also noted that the federal law ministry had not presented its side of the case despite being asked to do so. Deputy Attorney General Mehfooz Paracha was present in the court but chose to remain silent during the hearing.

The court then directed the station house officer of the Secretariat police station to record petitioner Ghuman's statement and register a first information report against Musharraf.

Holding that Musharraf had acted extra-judicially, illegally and unconstitutionally, the Supreme Court July 31 termed as null and void the steps he had taken Nov 3, 2007.

A 14-member bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammed Chaudhry, however, stopped short of censuring Musharraf as had been demanded in a petition the court was hearing against the declaration of the emergency.

This was not surprising considering that July 31 morning Chaudhry had said while concluding the hearing that the court would not pass a verdict that would trigger chaos in the country.