The Supreme Court on Friday announced the formation of a nine-member larger bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry in the Memogate case.
The court also announced June 4 as the date for the next hearing in the case.
The court had resumed hearing after a five-week recess of the case where former ambassador to US Hussain Haqqani was implicated in a scandal in which he allegedly had a memo delivered through Mansoor Ijaz to top US Admiral Mike Mullen offering greater cooperation against the Pakistan military in the aftermath of the Abbottabad raid on May 2, 2011.
Haqqani denied any such involvement and resigned in protest.
During last month’s hearing, Asma Jehangir had submitted a letter that she wrote to the interior ministry with regards to her client’s security. She said that Haqqani could not appear before the court in person due to security concerns.
The court had given Haqqani one last chance to be present at the next hearing, which would now be on June 4.
“Hussain Haqqani must be present at the next hearing under any circumstances, otherwise legal action will be taken”, said the chief justice.