Memogate: Court orders government to bring back Haqqani

Former envoy to US was allowed to leave Pakistan in 2012 on commitment to return.

ISLAMABAD:

A larger bench of the Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the federal government to have recourse to all legal and constitutional measures to bring back Hussain Haqqani to Pakistan.

Haqqani a former ambassador to USA is facing proceedings in the apex court for writing a memorandum to Admiral Mike Mullen seeking US intervention alleging that the Pakistan Army intended to topple then PPP government in the aftermath of May 1, 2011 US raid in Abbottabad to kill Osama bin Laden.

Heading a nine-judge bench of the SC Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry noted in his order, “As Haqqani has not fulfilled his commitment therefore we direct the federal interior secretary to adopt all the constitutional and legal steps to bring back him in the country.”

Haqqani was allowed to leave Pakistan on January 30 2012 only after he committed to the SC that he would return whenever the court required.

Advocate Asma Jahangir representing Haqqani said her client was afraid to come to Pakistan.

“As one of the petitioners against Haqqani, Mian Nawaz Sharif is going to become the next prime minister, my client fears for his life,” she said.



Responding to the question raised by the bench that why the former ambassador had not been fulfilling his commitment, Asma said “he (Haqqani) was paranoid and I could not convince him to return to Pakistan from USA.”

The chief justice observed that the country was being governed by the constitution and irrespective of the fact whosoever was in power the cases of all citizens were to be dealt in accordance with the law.

Earlier during the proceedings, Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa said that here the question was the dignity of the court, adding Haqqani’s undertaking was the commitment with the court.

Asma Jahangir argued that so far Haqqani had not violated the law, adding the undertaking given by her client was in altogether different scenario and insisted why Mansoor Ijaz was given special treatment and when Haqqani demanded that facility the judicial commission inquiring the memo scandal refused.

Mansoor Ijaz is the Pakistani-American businessman who forwarded the memo to Admiral Mullen. Ijaz wrote about the incident in an article in the Financial Times in October 2011.

After the short order the bench adjourned the hearing for four weeks.

Following a set of petitions the SC on December 1, 2011 constituted a judicial commission headed by Justice Qazi Faez Isa, Chief Justice Balochistan High Court and comprising Justice Iqbal Hameed-ur-Rehman, Chief Justice Islamabad High Court, and Justice Mushir Alam, Chief Justice Sindh High Court to probe the authenticity and purpose of drafting of memo for delivering it to chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen.

The commission in its findings held, “It has been incontrovertibly established that the memorandum was authentic and Haqqani, former ambassador of Pakistan in USA, was its originator and architect. Haqqani sought American help; he also wanted to create a niche for himself making himself forever indispensable to the Americans. He lost sight of the fact that he is a Pakistani citizen and Pakistan’s ambassador to the USA, and therefore his loyalty could only be to Pakistan.”

Published in The Express Tribune, June 5^th, 2013.