Memogate: Pak judicial panel summons Pasha, Haqqani

Islamabad: A judicial commission set up by Pakistan’s Supreme Court to investigate the memo scandal has summoned ISI chief Lt Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha and former envoy to the US, Husain Haqqani, to appear before it. The three-member commission, constituted by the apex court on Friday in response to a batch of petitions seeking a probe into the scandal, will start its proceedings in Islamabad tomorrow. The commission yesterday summoned Pasha, Haqqani, Pakistani-American businessman Mansoor Ijaz and former US National Security Adviser James Jones to appear before it to record their statements, media reports said today. It could not immediately be ascertained when they had been asked to appear before the panel. [caption id=“attachment_169460” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“The former envoy to the US has been summoned by a Pakistan judicial panel in the memo scandal case. AFP”]  [/caption] District and Sessions Judge Jawwad Abbas, the Secretary of the Commission, yesterday issued notices to other respondents in the memo case, including the Attorney General, Foreign Secretary, Interior Secretary and Cabinet Secretary. Balochistan High Court Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa is the head of the commission, which has been given four weeks by the apex court to “ascertain the origin, authenticity and purpose” of the secret memo that had sought the US help to stave off a possible military takeover in Pakistan after the killing of Osama bin Laden. The other members of the commission are the chief Justices of the Islamabad High Court Chief and Sindh High Court. The panel’s first meeting to be held tomorrow will be introductory in nature and will examine documents produced in the apex court during the hearing of the memo case. The commission has been asked by the apex court to obtain the services of advocates and experts in forensic science and cyber crimes. The Supreme Court’s decision to form the commission came as a blow to the beleaguered Pakistan People’s Party-led government, which had challenged the court’s jurisdiction to hear the petitions seeking a probe into the memo scandal. The government had contended that the probe into the memo issue should be left to the Parliamentary Committee on National Security. However, the chiefs of the army and the ISI had urged the court to order an independent inquiry, saying the memo had affected national security. The PPP-led government was thrown into a crisis when Mansoor Ijaz first revealed details of the memo in an article written in the Financial Times on 10 October. Analysts have noted that the apex court had ensured that all members and support staff of the commission were drawn from the judiciary and said this was a move aimed at insulating the panel from possible interference by the government. PTI