SC to hear Haqqani’s review petition from Jan 17

The Supreme Court (SC), while taking up the petition to review the court’s verdict of the Memogate scandal, fixed January 17 for the hearing of the case.
Asma Jehangir, who pleaded the case for Pakistan’s former ambassador to the US Hussain Haqqani before SC bench in the Memogate scandal case regarding the maintainability of the petitions, filed the review petition on January 9 (Monday) to review its December 30 verdict.
The petition said Haqqani’s fundamental rights entitled to him under Article-9 (security of person) and 15 (freedom of movement) of the Constitution have been violated through the verdict, as he has not been formally accused so far of any offence whatsoever.
The petitioner, Haqqani, contended that the apex court is not empowered to form a commission to probe the Memogate.
It should be mentioned here Haqqani’s defence counsel who moved the court through a petition for review of the order handed down by a larger bench on December 30, declined to appear before the Memogate Commission.
The review petition not only calls in question the court order to form the commission on the basis of its jurisdiction, but also the appointment of high court judges for the commission.
However, the court in its December 30 ruling maintained that petitioners substantiated the case as being of public importance; hence, the court has the jurisdiction to hear the case.
The petition further stated, “The court has misread the facts that the Oct 10, 2011, article in the Financial Times carried the controversial memorandum with it. The contents of the memorandum are still unknown to this point of time.”