Mr. Musharraf and his security detail pushed through a large crowd outside the Islamabad High Court after the hearing, then sped away in a convoy of S.U.V.s as lawyers chased behind, shouting insults.
The scene of Mr. Musharraf running before the law, unimaginable just a few years ago at the height of his power, was the latest twist in his quixotic bid to return to Pakistani politics, which has been dogged by a series of mishaps and humiliations.
It could also presage a wider clash. Never before has a retired army chief faced imprisonment in Pakistan, and analysts said the move against Mr. Musharraf could open a new rift between the courts and the military.
After fleeing Thursday, Mr. Musharraf drove to his luxury villa on the outskirts of the capital, which is protected by high walls, armed guard posts and a contingent of retired and serving soldiers, officials said.
That bolstered security setup is a reflection of repeated Taliban threats to kill the former general. But for now, the imminent danger to Mr. Musharraf, who ruled Pakistan between 1999 and 2008, stems from the courts.
At Thursday's hearing, the High Court judge, Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui, refused to extend Mr. Musharraf's bail in a case focusing on his controversial decision to fire and imprison the country's top judges when he imposed emergency rule in November 2007.
Resentment toward the former army chief and president still runs deep in the judiciary, which was at the center of the protest movement that led to his ouster in 2008. On Thursday evening, the court demanded to know why the police had failed to arrest Mr. Musharraf as he left the court, Pakistani television stations reported.
A spokesman for Musharraf's party described the court order as "seemingly motivated by personal vendettas," and hinted at the possibility of a looming clash with the military, warning that it could "result in unnecessary tension among the various pillars of state and possibly destabilize the country."
Mr. Musharraf's lawyers lodged an appeal with the Supreme Court, which said it would hear the case on Friday. One widely offered possibility was that the Supreme Court could declare Mr. Musharraf's villa a "sub-jail," and place him under house arrest there.
The court drama represents the low point of a troubled homecoming for the swaggering commando general, who had vowed to "take the country out of darkness" after returning from four years of self-imposed exile in Dubai, London and the United States.
But instead of the public adulation he was apparently expecting, Mr. Musharraf has been greeted by stiff legal challenges, political hostility and — perhaps most deflating — a widespread sense of public apathy.
Pakistan's influential television channels have given scant coverage to Mr. Musharraf since his return, and his All Pakistan Muslim League party has struggled to find strong candidates to field in the general election scheduled for May 11. On Tuesday, the national election commission delivered another blow, disqualifying Mr. Musharraf from the election.
Meanwhile, Mr. Musharraf faces criminal charges in three cases dating to his period in office — the one related to firing judges and two others related to the deaths of the former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, a Baloch tribal leader. Attempts by some critics to charge Mr. Musharraf with treason have not succeeded.
Last week he stoked controversy when, in an interview with CNN, he admitted to having authorized American drone strikes in the tribal belt — a statement that contradicted years of denials of complicity in the drone program, and which was considered politically disastrous in a country where the drones are widely despised.
In returning to Pakistan in such an apparently ill-considered manner, Mr. Musharraf has placed himself at the mercy of some of his most bitter enemies. The favorite to win the coming election is Nawaz Sharif, the onetime prime minister whom Mr. Musharraf overthrew to seize power in 1999.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court is led by his sworn enemy, Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry. Justice Siddiqui, who refused him bail on Thursday, is considered a conservative who has been hostile to the military.
Last week another judge placed Mr. Musharraf on the Exit Control List, which means that, even if he avoids arrest for now, he cannot leave the country until a court gives him permission.
Human Rights Watch said that Mr. Musharraf's flight from the court on Thursday "underscores his disregard for due legal process" and called on the military to ensure that he presents himself for arrest.
"Continued military protection for General Musharraf will make a mockery of claims that Pakistan's armed forces support the rule of law," said Ali Dayan Hasan, Pakistan director for the rights group.
But officials in Mr. Musharraf's political party denied that the former leader was in any way a fugitive. "No attempt was made to arrest Mr. Musharraf," Muhammad Amjad Chaudhry, the senior party leader, said. "No police officer asked Mr. Musharraf to surrender after the court order was passed. Mr. Musharraf returned to his residence from the court. He is not in hiding."
As journalists and the police gathered outside Mr. Musharraf's villa on Thursday, awaiting his next move, a senior party official, Chaudhry Muhammad Ashraf, said the retired army chief was consulting his advisers and lawyers. "We will face the situation," he said.
Salman Masood contributed reporting.
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