An unexpected shock for the already embattled Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani came from the attorney general on Friday when he disputed the premier’s statement, telling reporters at the apex court building that the army chief and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) director general (DG) had submitted their replies following the rules of business.
Haq said further that linking the submission of a reply or a letter by the former defence secretary to the statements of the two army generals was not correct. Meanwhile, after Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry turned down the attorney general’s request for a rescheduling on account of simultaneous appearances before the judicial commission probing the memogate scandal as well as the Supreme Court on Monday, Haq decided on Friday to appear in the apex court, being a higher forum, instead of the judicial commission.
The attorney general decided this after meeting Akram Sheikh, the counsel for Pakistan-American businessman Mansoor Ijaz, the central character in the memo case. Haq and Sheikh met to file a joint application before the head of the judicial commission to extend the date of hearing, keeping in view the engagement of the attorney general in the Supreme Court on Monday.
According to Haq, he would prefer to appear in the SC instead of the judicial commission. However, he said he would think about it more. He said the government would request the SC not to apply any of the six options it had laid out in the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) case.
The commission will hear the memogate case at the Islamabad High Court on Monday and on the same day, the apex court will take up the case about the government’s failure to implement its NRO verdict. The attorney general was summoned for both cases, therefore, he had requested the chief justice to adjust the hearing of the two matters, which the chief justice turned down. This will be at the same time when the attorney general is supposed to appear before the three-judge judicial commission constituted under orders from the Supreme Court to investigate the veracity of the controversial memorandum, which sparked a controversy in the country.
The Chief Justice of Pakistan seems to have an axe to grind. He should be making nation wide justice and not be politically embroiled.
The CJ can only do one thing at a time. And it's best to start with those at the very top and presently in power. It seems that all concerned wiii be doing their utmost to save their own backsides. And about time too…
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