Pakistan’s former ambassador to the US Husain Haqqani has finally decided to file a review petition shortly against the Supreme Court’s December 30 short order in the memo case, in which a three-member enquiry commission headed by Balochistan High Court Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa was formed to probe the memo issue, which has already begun investigating the matter.
To devise a further strategy to fight the memo case, a crucial meeting of Haqqani’s legal team was held on Wednesday, in which it was decided that a review petition against the short order would be filed within a day or two. The team decided that the review plea would particularly focus and challenge the appointment of the enquiry commission. The legal team, comprising Supreme Court Bar Association’s former president and noted human rights activist Asma Jahangir, former judge Syed Zahid Husain Bokhari, Idrees Asharf and Sajid Tanoli discussed the legal challenges in the memo case in detail. They decided that Bokhari would be the lead counsel for Haqqani before the enquiry commission appointed by the Supreme Court and he would be assisted by Tanoli. Bokhari had also advocated for slain former prime minister Benazir Bhutto in 1990 in a number of cases that were filed against her for her political victimisation. He is a senior lawyer with more than 40 years of experience in criminal law. He was appointed judge of the Lahore High Court in 1995. Later, he was appointed the Punjab prosecutor general in March 2009.
He served as a member of the Punjab Bar Council during 2000-2004 and was also elected chairman of the Legal Education Committee and Disciplinary Committee of the Punjab Bar Council. Asma Jahangir and Idrees Ashraf will file the review petition. Asma will defend Haqqani before the Supreme Court. The legal team, after having met with Haqqani, decided to prepare a solid defence for their client and to fight the legal battle at all forums. It was again resolved in the meeting that Haqqani would present himself to any enquiry conducted under due process of law. It was also decided that his fundamental rights would be protected under all circumstances.
