Memogate commission parliament’s task, not SC’s, says SCBA chief

Criticising the Supreme Court’s decision to constitute a commission for a transparent enquiry into the memogate scandal, the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) president and secretary on Saturday said the formation of the commission was the duty of parliament, not of the court. Addressing a press conference at the SCBA Lahore office, President Yaseen Azad and Secretary Aslam Zaar said every institution should perform their duties within their limits. Azad said, “It will harm the country if institutions go beyond their limits.” He said it would be premature to comment on the memogate issue since the matter was sub judice. He said that political stakeholders should solve issues in parliament and should not involve the judiciary in all matters. He said Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif should have discussed the issue in the National Assembly since his party had 90 seats. He said the SC did not provide an opportunity to the federal government to explain its point of view before the court. Azad said, “The attorney general was present in the SC during the hearing but he was not allowed time to take directions from the federation.” The SCBA representatives praised the government’s steps after the NATO attack on the Salala checkpost, and said Babar Awan’s press conference could not be deemed contempt of court. He urged the government to implement the SC’s verdicts in letter and sprit and write letters to the Swiss authorities to reopen corruption cases pending against President Zardari and others. The SCBA office bearers criticized the Pakistan Army and asked it to focus on securing borders. Speaking in the context of the recent NATO airstrike, they said, “People did not need such a large army if it could not respond to enemy aggression on the borders.”