Memogate hearing: Haqqani pleads for video conferencing
The chief justice remarked that the court could not interfere with the commission’s proceedings.
ISLAMABAD:
The Supreme Court on Monday deferred its hearing for Tuesday on a plea of Husain Haqqani, Pakistan’s former ambassador to the US, seeking its direction for the judicial commission investigating the memo scandal to record his statement via video conferencing.
A 10-memebr bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, adjourned the hearing after Haqqani’s counsel Asma Jehangir requested to place certain documents on record. Asma acknowledged that Haqqani had been directed to record his statement in person. However, she claimed that her client was neither an accused nor had an FIR registered against him, but the commission had still not allowed him the facility of video conferencing, assuming that the SC had somehow prohibited Haqqani from recording his statement from abroad.
The chief justice remarked that the court could not interfere with the commission’s proceedings.
Asma sought similar treatment for her client, in line with what was extended to Mansoor Ijaz, the main eyewitness and the alleged deliverer of a confidential memo that sparked the memogate scandal. Ijaz was given the opportunity to record his video statement from London.
Asma Jehangir will further argue Haqqani’s case on Tuesday. The court asked her to advise her client to respect the court’s judgment. She told the court that she always asked her clients to respect the law.
The Supreme Court on Monday deferred its hearing for Tuesday on a plea of Husain Haqqani, Pakistan’s former ambassador to the US, seeking its direction for the judicial commission investigating the memo scandal to record his statement via video conferencing.
A 10-memebr bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, adjourned the hearing after Haqqani’s counsel Asma Jehangir requested to place certain documents on record. Asma acknowledged that Haqqani had been directed to record his statement in person. However, she claimed that her client was neither an accused nor had an FIR registered against him, but the commission had still not allowed him the facility of video conferencing, assuming that the SC had somehow prohibited Haqqani from recording his statement from abroad.
The chief justice remarked that the court could not interfere with the commission’s proceedings.
Asma sought similar treatment for her client, in line with what was extended to Mansoor Ijaz, the main eyewitness and the alleged deliverer of a confidential memo that sparked the memogate scandal. Ijaz was given the opportunity to record his video statement from London.
Asma Jehangir will further argue Haqqani’s case on Tuesday. The court asked her to advise her client to respect the court’s judgment. She told the court that she always asked her clients to respect the law.