Context
Pakistan’s Supreme Court announced on Friday that the petitions for the judicial inquiry into the Memogate scandal are maintainable. The court has established a judicial commission to investigate the issue with in four weeks. According to the decision, the earlier order of not letting Husain Haqqani to leave the country shall remain intact.
During the hearings, petitioner Ishaq Dar of PML-N appeared before the court and adopted arguments of Rashid A. Rizvi while Asma Jehangir said the petitions were vague and based on hypothesis. The Federation, President, General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani, Director General Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Lt. General Shuja Pasha, and many others including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs were made respondents in the petitions.
Mixed reaction followed Supreme Courts rulings. Asma Jehangir called it a black day while Ishaq Dar welcomed the decision. On the other hand, the Parliamentary Committee on National Security that is also investigating the Memogate scandal, held its session on Friday under Senator Raza Rabbani. The committee has summoned former Ambassador Husain Haqqani, DG ISI Lt. General Shuja Pasha, and US businessman of Pakistan origin Mansoor Ijaz.
