ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar has ordered the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to complete legal action against former ambassador to the United States Hussain Haqqani within a week.
The consideration for Haqqani’s arrest was submitted to the Supreme Court’s (SC) three-judge bench by the Additional Attorney General Waqar Rana.
According to the additional attorney general, the FIA has also written to the Interpol Agency regarding the issuance of Haqqani’s red warrant, however, the agency has raised certain queries. The FIA requires some time to fulfil its requirements, he added.
Waqar Rana also requested the CJP to hear the matter in his chamber as according to him, Haqqani and his lobby get active against Pakistan whenever the court hears this matter.
CJP accepted the plea and asked AAG and petitioner to appear in his chamber on Tuesday. He also issued instructions that FIA director general should appear in person if no action is taken against Haqqani within a week.
The case hearing was adjourned for a week.
On February 15, the SC issued arrest warrants for the former ambassador of Pakistan to the US, Hussain Haqqani.
The SC had directed Haqqani to appear in the Memogate case but the latter failed to comply with the court orders.
The FIA had asked Interpol to issue a red warrant for Haqqani, Additional Attorney General Rana Waqar told the top court.
The Memogate scandal erupted in 2011 when Pakistani-American businessman Mansoor Ijaz claimed to have received an ‘anti-army’ memo from Haqqani for the then-US joint chiefs chairman Admiral Mike Mullen.
In this regard, a court notice has already been issued to Haqqani and other respondents of the case — including former prime minister Nawaz Sharif. The scandal, taken to the Supreme Court by then opposition leader Nawaz Sharif, led to Haqqani’s resignation.
The cases pertaining to the Memogate were registered under Sections 120b (hatching a criminal conspiracy) and 121a (waging a war against Pakistan) of the Pakistan Penal Code.
Earlier, the chief justice had summoned details of the Memogate case while hearing a case related to the right to vote for overseas Pakistanis.
According to the international criminal police organisation, Interpol’s charter forbids it from undertaking interventions or activities of a political, military, religious, or racial nature or involving itself in disputes over such matters.
Interpol’s work focuses primarily on public safety and battling transnational crimes against humanity, child pornography, computer crime and cybercrime, drug trafficking, environmental crime, genocide, human trafficking, illicit drug production, copyright infringement, illicit traffic in works of art, intellectual property crime, money laundering, organised crime, corruption, terrorism, war crimes, weapons smuggling, and white-collar crime.
