Petitions quite maintainable: Supreme Court rules unanimously The petitions filed by PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif and others have made President Asif Ali Zardari, CoAS General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, DG ISI Lieutenant General Shuja Pasha, Husain Haqqani, Mansoor Ijaz, the foreign secretary and the federation parties with a plea to seek a probe into the Memogate scandal.
The bench comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Mian Shakirullah Jan, Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani, Justice Jawwad S. Khawaja, Justice Tariq Pervez, Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan, Justice Ijaz Ahmed Chaudhry and Justice Muhammad Athar Saeed decided the admissibility of the petitions in its short order.
Headed by Chief Justice Balochistan High Court Justice Qazi Faiz Isa, the Commission comprises Chief Justice Sindh High Court Justice Musheer Alam and Chief Justice Islamabad High Court Justice Iqbal Hameedur Rehman. District and Sessions Judge Islamabad Jawad Abbas shall serve as Secretary to the Commission.
Attorney General for Pakistan Maulvi Anwarul Haq was directed to contact Research in Motion (RIM) Company in Canada to collect forensic evidence relating to Mansoor Ijaz's and Husain Haqqani's electronic/telephonic interaction of October, 28 and November 1, 2011 because it was an important piece of evidence of purported contacts between the two respondents in the case.
Supreme Court tells Haqqani's counsel: Article 184 not restrained by definite limits
BR headline of December 29, 2011 issue: The SC Registrar has been directed to put up in the CJP's chamber the replies of Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani relating to a press conference of Babar Awan that he addressed alongwith two PPP ministers where he reportedly denounced the court's order on Memogate scandal of December 1. "An appropriate order shall be given after a decision in the chamber," the CJP said in the order.
The Commission shall conduct meetings in the Islamabad High Court where it shall be exercising all the powers of Judicial Officers for the purpose. It shall be free to avail services of advocates, experts of forensic science and cyber crimes.
All the Federal Secretaries, including Interior Secretary, Secretary Cabinet, Secretary Foreign Affairs, provincial Chief Secretaries, DG FIA, Inspector Generals of Police of all the provinces and Ambassadors of Pakistan to the US and UK have been directed to provide necessary assistance to the Commission. However, the government of Pakistan through Secretary Cabinet Division will be required to provide logistic support to the Commission, subject to its demands through the Secretary of the Commission.
The Commission shall be authorised to collect evidence within and outside Pakistan according to prevailing laws on the subject, the order said, adding "it shall provide full opportunity of hearing to all the parties." It has been mentioned in the order that parties including the COAS, the DG, ISI, Mansoor Ijaz, Husain Haqqani and the Federation of Pakistan through Secretary Interior, Foreign Secretary represented by Attorney General for Pakistan filed their replies but no separate reply had been filed by the President of Pakistan. The hearing on petitions was adjourned till date in the office after the receipt of the report of the Commission by the court.
Earlier, counsel for Nawaz Sharif Rashid A. Rizvi, said that Haqqani's premise that Nawaz Sharif's petition was against him was not correct, adding that due process of law as demanded by Haqqani's counsel Asma Jahangir was more guaranteed and safeguarded in this court instead of a Parliamentary Committee or a sessions court or even a commission set up under 'Commission and Inquiry Act 1956'. According to him, the petition is not about seeking relief for an individual, but this is a matter of public importance.
On his turn, Senator Ishaq Dar argued that on November 18 he along with 25 Senators wrote a letter to the Senate Chairman for the requisitioning of a Senate session. He further contended that according to rules if a requisition was made by the opposition members then the Chairman was bound to call the session within 14 days after its receipt. But the session was called on December 2 when the court took notice of the case. In that session, he said, the government chose to point out an incomplete quorum, which it should not have done as it was requisitioned on a very important issue. Due to an incomplete quorum, the session was adjourned, he added.
Dar stated that in his letter to the Chairman Parliamentary Committee on National Security he demanded that the DG ISI and the Secretary Foreign Affairs should file their replies. Contradicting the version of the federation, he said no meeting was held in PM House over the Memo controversy on November 25, and the Prime Minister showed interest in the matter only after the apex court had taken up the case.
He said it was a wrong assertion that Haqqani resigned himself. Producing a copy of Haqqani's resignation, he said the then Pakistan ambassador to the US had stated that he resigned in pursuance of instructions. He also objected to the arguments of Haqqani's counsel that the court had restricted Haqqani's movements. He asked: "Who has kept him (Haqqani) in the Presidency or the Prime Minister's House?"
APP adds: Earlier, the bench had reserved the order about maintainability of the petitions and said it was to be announced at 1500 hours. However, the short order came at 1550 hours. Counsels of petitioners and respondents besides petitioners Ishaq Dar, Barrister Zafarullah and Dr Tariq Asad and a large number of PML(N) leaders including Members of the National Assembly Sardar Mehtab Abbasi and Ayaz Amir were also present in the court room when the order was announced.