Haqqani must appear before SC ‘no matter what’, says CJ

Hearing the Memogate case on Monday, Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry said former envoy to the United States Husain Haqqani should be brought to court even if it requires the use of force.
Pakistan’s former ambassador to US was implicated in the scandal where he allegedly had a memo delivered to Admiral Mike Mullen through Pakistani-American national Mansoor Ijaz. The memo had offered greater government cooperation in return for US backing against the powerful military in the immediate aftermath of the May 2 raid. She informed the court that Haqqani cannot appear before the court due to security concerns. She said the former ambassador to the US has been receiving threats via social media and asked the concerned authorities to investigate the matter. Asma categorically stated before the SC that she could not bring her client back by applying physical force.
“If he has the phobia of not getting fair justice, I can’t remove it. He was not given the right to due process completely,” she told a nine-member bench headed by Chief Justice Chaudhry. She told the court that it could do whatever it liked, adding that she had written to the interior secretary about her client’s reservations regarding threats to his life, but had received no response.
She also read out a letter which was sent to the interior secretary in which her client had alluded to life threats emanating from religious extremists and certain political clouts. She claimed that her client had received threats through emails and that it was up to the ministries of interior and foreign affairs to ascertain the levels of such intimidation. “He is not an absconder and can’t risk his life,” she added.
The chief justice told her that the court was concerned with Haqqani’s appearance. “The court cannot testify that there is danger to his life. When orders of the courts are passed, everyone in the country is bound to obey them,” he observed. Asma said that she had also sent an application after July 12 last year, but it had been objected upon by the SC Registrar’s Office, saying that they should first seek review of the order. She also complained that she was not provided a copy of the order despite her request.
Objecting to the formation of the commission, Asma said that she had never seen an investigative body formed in such issues. The CJ reminded her that the formation of the commission was not a new thing.
About a meeting held under the Supreme Court’s order in December, she said that they had not been informed about it by the interior secretary. She also requested the bench to defer proceedings until next week, as she was leaving for Geneva tomorrow in connection with her responsibility assigned to her by the UN with regard to Israeli settlements in Palestinian areas.
The bench, accepting her request, adjourned the hearing until February 12 and issued notice to the interior secretary. The secretary was directed to appear on the next date of hearing and confirm the receipt of her letter addressed to him on December 31, 2012, and explain as to why Haqqani had not been informed about adequate security arrangements. Other members of the bench included Justice Nasirul Mulk, Justice Jawwad S Khawaja, Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali, Justice Khilji Arif Hussain, Justice Tariq Parvez, Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan, Justice Gulzar Ahmed and Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed.