LHC accepts petition to place Haqqani on Exit Control List

LHC issues directives to the federal government to submit its reply in this regard within three weeks. PHOTO: RIAZ AHMED/EXPRESS/FILE

LAHORE: Two Deputy Attorney-Generals (DAGs) on Monday assured the Lahore High Court (LHC) that Husain Haqqani would not be allowed to leave the country until the inquiry into the Memogate scandal was completed.

Justice Umar Ata Bandial admitted a petition for regular hearing which pleads the court to include Haqqani’s name in the Exit Control List (ECL).

The petition was filed by Iftikhar Rajpoot through Barrister Javed Iqbal Jafree. Interior Minister Rehman Malik, opposition leader in National Assembly Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Attorney General of Pakistan Maulvi Anwarul Haq and Cabinet Secretary Nargis Sethi were named as respondents in it.

The DAGs appeared before the court of Justice Bandial and informed him that the investigation into the Memogate scandal would be carried out under the supervision of Parliamentary Committee on National Security (PCNS) chairman Senator Raza Rabbani.

Justice Bandial ordered the petitioner, Barrister Jafree, to include the names of secretary interior and foreign affairs in the list of respondents, on request of the DAGs as they may provide relevant information to the investigators.

Rajpoot accused Haqqani of sending a “derogatory letter” to the former US military chief Mike Mullen through a US-based Pakistani businessman Mansoor Ijaz against the Pakistan army and Inter Services Intelligence (ISI).

By doing this, Rajpoot accused that Haqqani has tarnished the image of both Pakistan and its armed forces.

The petitioner pleaded that Haqqani was appointed ambassador to Sri Lanka against merit during Nawaz Sharif’s tenure as prime minister. But Haqqani then changed his loyalties and became a member of PPP, said the petitioner.

Barrister Jafree also said that Haqqani wasted huge amount of public money in unsuccessful defence of Dr Aafia Siddiqui in US courts that not only caused humiliation to Pakistan but was ineffective.

He further requested the court to direct all the respondents to declare their national and foreign assets along with their affidavits.

Justice Bandial adjourned the hearing till December 9.