Memogate hearing: Haqqani pleads for 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.
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@Umer (1) Your cricketers committed the crime in England hence had to face English law. Mansoor Ijaz reluctance to come to Pakistan was security as well as possibility of being slapped with a false charge! (2) The Commision is only holding an enquiry.to get at the truth. No one has been charged with any crime yet. HH is expected/required to fully cooperate with the Commission Pakistan in order to clear his name.
@Babu Khan:
Not correct. Our cricketers were not British but they had to appear before British courts. If Mansoor Ijaz did not appear in front of the Pakistani then court did not have to take up his case.
When courts are lame or biased then no excuse can cover for that.
Then court can not take up his case without jurisdiction. You can have it both ways.
The SC can make the biggest Pakistan hater and make him their star witness and chief prosecutor and cahse him to the other countries but treat HH equal to him, impossible. Ain't going to happen Asma save your breath. There is no judicial history in south Asia where a foreigner is the only witness (who actually commited the acts) and prosecutor and the court takes his words as a page from sacred book.
HH is requesting the courts to take his testimony through video Link, i thing eventually he will refuse it too,then he would have a new reason.
@Babu Khan:
Respectable Babu Khan sahib, Mansoor Ijaz wrote to SC, hired a lawyer and practically playing the role of "complainant" or "Mudai". Please keep the facts in mind and these TV anchors who spread misinformation, take them with a big grain of salt. As I said earlier, SC will regret taking the bait of Nawaz Sharif and company, they used SC to achieve their own political advantage,this is the history of Sharif's, how many alliance they mad and dumped them all. Is Nawaz Sharif is talking about memo-gate anymore?
All are equal in the eye of law. Courts should not use Principles of Justice selectively, this is again a test for SC to show its neutrality. SC is eager to bend backwards for all those who are against PPP government, this cannot be characterized as Justice and this is not good for SC reputation and reputation of Pakistan and this must come a halt. Sense and sensibility must prevail. If someone from PPP or any other party breaks law that person must be punished fairly according to law. This habit of pretrial to malign the government must end. What will historian write about this? In this perticular case (memo-gate) SC has jumped in unnecessarily, may be due to being over zealous, this was bad decision and this will hurt the reputation of SC at the end.
@Umer: Mansoor Ijaz is a US citizen. His appearing before a court of law is a voluntary act as no court of law could force him to appear for recording of statement/testimony. the courts have no jurisdiction over Mansoor Ijaz while Haqqani is a Pakistani citizen and he should appear before the court.
The court should have said the same thing to Akram Skeikh too when his client Mansoor Ijaz refused to come over to Pakistan. The court does not seem consistent in its ‘dispensation of justice’.