According to a private TV channel, Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir appeared at the Islamabad High Court (IHC) where a meeting of the judicial commission investigating the memo scandal was taking place.
The judicial commission had summoned the foreign secretary on half an hour’s notice.
If the foreign secretary does not appear before the commission within half an hour he would be held in contempt of court, Balochistan High Court Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa had said.
Justice Isa, who is heading the commission, said the foreign ministry was “creating hurdles” for the investigative commission.
The commission also includes two other high court chief justices.
Earlier during the meeting, Mansoor Ijaz’s counsel Akram Sheikh said that the commission did not have the authority to summon his client.
Sheikh moreover said that upon entering Pakistan, Pakistani law would apply on Ijaz and all assurances given regarding his security would be void.
Sheikh further said that his client could not travel to either Pakistan or Dubai, and that his statement should be recorded at the Pakistani High Commission in London. On which Justice Isa remarked that after getting all the assurances, you are taking a U-turn.
Meanwhile, Attorney General Maulvi Anwarul Haq opposed Sheikh’s request for the commission to travel abroad. He added that both US General James Jones and Admiral Mike Mullen had also refused to appear before the commission.
Mullen, the former US military chief, had written a letter to the Supreme Court refusing to appear before the memo commission.
Salman Bashir appears before Islamabad High Court
