Pakistan Court Initiates Contempt Charge Against Justice's Accuser ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Pakistan's Supreme Court initiated contempt-of-court proceedings on Wednesday against a property baron who a day earlier accused the chief justice's family of accepting $3.7 million in kickbacks and cash payments. The contempt proceedings, which were announced after normal court hours, marked the judiciary's first riposte in an extraordinary scandal that threatens Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, who in some quarters has become an admired figure for his flamboyant court crusades against the country's rich and powerful. In court testimony and a news conference on Tuesday, the businessman, Malik Riaz Hussain, detailed a campaign of corruption. He implied that he had bankrolled luxury vacations in London, gambling in Monte Carlo and substantial cash kickbacks to Chief Justice Chaudhry's son, wife and daughter-in-law over the past two years. In court, Mr. Hussain's lawyers said that Chief Justice Chaudhry's 32-year-old son, Arsalan Iftikhar, had extracted the payments in return for favorable treatment in a number of court cases related to his property holdings. ""I was victimized and blackmailed by him,"" he said. At a later news conference, Mr. Hussain went even further, suggesting that he had held secret meetings "in the dead of night" with the chief justice, although he did not directly accuse him of corruption. ""I will make more disclosures,"" he said, holding a copy of the Koran in one hand. ""I will tell people what is happening in Pakistan."" Chief Justice Chaudhry, who had recused himself from the court proceedings, did not directly answer Mr. Hussain's allegations. But the strong language used against the country's top judge during the news conference offered ammunition to his colleagues on the bench to strike back against Mr. Hussain. On Wednesday, they ordered the businessman to appear before a three-judge bench, headed by Justice Shakirullah Jan, on Thursday. Separately, the chief justice has convened a meeting of the full court to discuss the matter on Friday. The judges may be hoping that contempt proceedings will stop Mr. Hussain from making further accusations outside the courthouse. The meeting of the Supreme Court bench on Friday will probably determine whether Chief Justice Chaudhry enjoys the full support of his fellow judges. The spectacle, mixing politics, money, high drama and the law, has riveted the Pakistani media, which had largely treated the chief justice with deference bordering on reverence. ""This is unprecedented,"" said Cyril Almeida, an analyst with the English-language daily Dawn. ""An institution like the Supreme Court is not designed to withstand this kind of ignominy. It cuts too close to the bone."" The case also focuses an uncomfortable spotlight on Mr. Hussain, who by several accounts has amassed a sizable fortune over the past two decades, partly through property development deals with the military, yet faced little media scrutiny. His reputation as a well-connected but discreet power broker was shattered on Tuesday when he walked into the Supreme Court, armed with extensive details of payments that his lawyers said were linked to the chief justice's close family. Producing copies of air tickets, hotel bills, wire transfers and car rental documents, Mr. Hussain offered a financial account of three European vacations taken by Mr. Iftikhar in 2010 and 2011. The details suggested a high roller more akin to the son of an Arab prince than a Pakistani judge. During one trip to London in 2010, for example, Mr. Iftikhar spent more than $8,000 to hire a Range Rover for transportation, according to Mr. Hussain. Later, in Monte Carlo, he spent around $10,000 on four nights at the Hôtel de Paris and accumulated more than $12,000 in gambling debts. A year later, he rented an apartment on Park Lane in London and stayed with his mother and siblings at the nearby Marriott Hotel. Mr. Hussain said the $168,000 tab for the three trips was picked up by his son-in-law, Salman Ahmed Khan, who is based in London. Although he never said it directly, Mr. Hussain gave the impression that he ultimately footed the bill. He also listed four cash payments totaling $3.6 million ""made to Arsalan."" Documents filed in court did not specify where the money came from and there was no further confirmation that money had changed hands. Despite this largess, Mr. Hussain said, his property disputes in court did not progress satisfactorily. ""Contrary to promises and assurances, I did not get any relief,"" he told the court. Mr. Hussain said he had warned Chief Justice Chaudhry through an intermediary about his son's demands for money. ""There are several other businessmen, like me, who are being blackmailed,"" he said. But instead of taking action against the chief justice's son, the courts charged Mr. Hussain with murder. Why Mr. Hussain chose to come forward remained unclear. ""No one has prompted me,"" he insisted. Chief Justice Chaudhry did not respond directly, but his assistant, the Supreme Court registrar, said the judge had met Mr. Hussain only before his reinstatement in March 2009. While Chief Justice Chaudhry has been criticized this year for pursuing what was seen as a personal vendetta against President Asif Ali Zardari in the courts, he has also been praised for taking on the country's top generals, including those of the powerful Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence, over their part in suspected human rights abuses in the northwest and Baluchistan Province. Some have speculated that those military cases prompted Mr. Hussain's aggressive actions, although he denied it.