(Reuters) – Being a thorn in the side of Pakistan’s presidents is a familiar role for the country’s top judge, but long-time allies of the chief justice now worry that the conflict between the two branches is about more than the law.

The fight between Pakistan’s judiciary and executive branches, as they dig in for another round of legal fisticuffs over the fate of President Asif Ali Zardari, is about old corruption cases reopened after a controversial amnesty law was thrown out in December.

But the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Iftikhar Chaudhry — and his colleagues on the court — are also playing to the crowds, a long-time friend says.

“They are playing for the galleries, giving populist remarks,” said retired judge Tariq Mehmud, who has known Chaudhry, 61, for more than 30 years. “That should not be done.”

The chief justice and members of his office declined to comment for this story.

Chaudhry’s many supporters say he’s standing up for ordinary Pakistanis disgusted by the rampant corruption among the ruling class.

They say he is a man of honor who has checked two unpopular presidents — Zardari and former military president Pervez Musharraf before him.

“For the first time the judiciary has become independent,” said Rasul Bakhsh Rais, political science professor at Lahore University of Management Sciences.

“We can’t really correct the political system and hold public office holders accountable without an independent judiciary,” But not everyone is happy with Chaudhry. He has reopened old cases after the voiding of the 2007 amnesty law, thrown out by the Supreme Court on the grounds that it was unconstitutional.

The amnesty had protected several thousand people — including Zardari — from old corruption charges and allowed their return to politics. With the amnesty revoked, these cases are active again.

“The real contest is between those forces in Pakistan who want to establish the rule of law and those who want to flout it,” said Rais.

Chaudhry himself is a reminder that the government can’t afford to push the judiciary too hard.

Former military president Pervez Musharraf suspended Chaudhry in March 2007, apparently fearing the judge would oppose his legally questionable bid to hold on to power.

The move triggered large protests and violent clashes.

His old friend Mehmud said at the time Chaudhry was buoyed by the mass support.

“He’s feeling great, he’s very happy,” Mehmud said.

“It was beyond his expectation, he couldn’t conceive it,” he said of the outpouring of support.

Musharraf dismissed Chaudhry later that year but he was reinstated by Zardari after Musharraf was forced from office, but not immediately and only after considerable pressure on the new president.

Zardari was apparently wary that Chaudhry would do exactly what he ended up doing — throw out the amnesty.

What critics see as Chaudhry’s dogged pursuit of Zardari may be eroding his appeal now, however, at least in some circles.

His old friend Mehmud now criticizes him, albeit indirectly, given the expansive nature of Pakistan’s contempt of court laws, which make criticizing specific justices risky.

“Some judges are ridiculing and threatening people, which is not the way an apex court should behave,” he said.

Mehmud was referring to recent reports that Chaudhry was hauling second-level bureaucrats before the bench and berating them for not implementing his decision on the amnesty law quickly enough.

Indeed, the liberal Dawn newspaper wrote in an editorial on Wednesday that the Supreme Court was “on the warpath” and that it appeared the court was interested only in the fate of Zardari and his inner circle.

“The Supreme Court must always be wary of even a hint of personalization in its actions,” the paper wrote.

Another senior lawyer involved in restoring Chaudhry said the judiciary’s concentration on high-profile and political cases was breeding disappointment among ordinary litigants.

“Basically, only one case is being heard every day. The actual cases of the people are not being heard,” he said. “Definitely it causes resentment.”

Dedicated to the law and to his wife and four children, Chaudhry is a workaholic with few outside interests, colleagues say.

(Additional reporting by Kamran Haider, Zeeshan Haider and Michael Georgy; Edited by Jerry Norton)