Memogate: Ignoring govt inquiry, court orders probe of its own

Replies sought from president, PM, army chief and DG ISI within 15 days; Haqqani put on ECL.

ISLAMABAD:

Dressed in a black suit and spotted tie, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif looked dapper-ready to make the hallowed courtroom a podium of his own to launch a diatribe against the government.

However, he was anticlimactically cut short – with the bench asking him to keep his comments confined to the case.

Though he may have left disappointed on that count, the former prime minister would certainly have been heartened by a no-nonsense court that passed a spate of orders in its first hearing of the memogate scandal on Thursday.

Right out of the gate, the nine-member special bench, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, ordered that a commission be formed to investigate the matter – one that is headed by former police officer Tariq Khosa.

This despite the fact that the government has already announced that the Parliamentary Committee on National Security would be investigating the matter. The bi-partisan and bi-cameral committee has already begun its proceedings.

The chief justice said the memogate case has two angles: one civil and the other criminal. The civil aspect has to be investigated by parliament, while the criminal case will be heard by the court.

The court also sought replies from the president, chief of army staff, director-general Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), former ambassador to US Hussain Haqqani and Mansoor Ijaz within 15 days.

For good measure, it also ordered that former US ambassador Hussain Haqqani be put on the Exit Control List till investigations into the matter are completed.

The PML-N had submitted a number of petitions in the Supreme Court seeking treason charges for conspiracies against the country’s sovereignty and its armed forces over an alleged memo that claimed that the government had sought US help to curb the military’s powers.

Earlier, appearing in the Supreme Court after 13 years, Nawaz read his written statement as if addressing a political rally.

The court, taken aback by Nawaz’s demeanor, told him to abide by legal decorum. “Mian sb, confine yourself to the case please,” said Justice Jawad S Khawaja, visibly embarrassing Nawaz who spontaneously replied: “What I am reading is part of the case, I am standing here for matters of great national importance.”

The bench attempted to understand why the memo scandal had been brought to court. Justice Saqib Nisar said: “Why should the court interfere in this issue? What is the law in this regard?”

Nawaz replied that none of the resolutions passed by parliament have been implemented. The opposition is helpless, that is why we have knocked the Supreme Court’s door, he added.

The chief justice said that according to media reports, the ISI has collected evidence on the scam and the evidence can only be protected on the court’s order.

“Will the government initiate an inquiry against its own?” Nawaz asked with obvious doubt, adding that he is not directly involving President Asif Ali Zardari in the scam. “But it is thought provoking how an ambassador can act like this without the consent of higher authorities,” he said.

He said ISI chief Ahmed Shuja Pasha had met Mansoor Ijaz in London to collect evidence and if the court summons Pasha, he can explain the issue better.

“I have been the prime minister myself and no ambassador could have dared to act like this during my tenure. If it happened in my time, I would resign immediately,” Nawaz said.

Another PML-N petitioner Senator Ishaq Dar said he had first taken up the issue before the parliamentary committee on national security, but the evidence lies with the executive.

When the bench inquired of the opposition senator about the scope and mandate of the parliamentary committee, Dar said that the 17-member committee was constituted in 2008 and so far its recommendations have not been implemented.

PML-N’s Khawaja Asif said that parliamentary committees have been made ineffective by the executive and since the executive has the evidence, the PML-N seeks justice in court.

The court asked Khosa to investigate the issue as his “national duty” and submit a report within three weeks.

Later, the attorney-general appeared and advised the court to allow the parliamentary committee to continue investigations.

Separately, former ambassador Haqqani said he did not want to leave Pakistan as no “palaces in Saudi Arabia” were waiting for him.

There were late-night reports that former SCBA president Asma Jahangir would represent Haqqani in court, but they could not be confirmed.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 2^nd, 2011.