The Supreme Court (SC) on Friday declared the reply of Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani relating to Senator Babar Awan's conference evasive and directed the Attorney General for Pakistan to seek fresh instructions from the PM to file a comprehensive reply on the next date of hearing.
The SC has taken notice of a press conference held by former law minister Babar Awan on December 1 after the apex court ordered the constitution of a one-member commission to probe the Memogate scandal. The court observed that Awan held the press conference in a government building where he criticised the nomination of probe commission by the apex court. The CJP grilled Awan and said that the SC order was ridiculed in the press conference. Resultantly, the CJP directed the AGP to submit the premier's viewpoint on whether it was government's own orchestrated plan or it was a brainchild of Awan.
A nine-member headed by the Chief Justice has been hearing the Memogate case on identical petitions calling for an investigation into the scandal. During the course of hearing, Senator M. Ishaq Dar, MNA Khwaja Muhammad Asif, MNA Malik Muhammad Rafiq Rajwana, Atiq Shah, Dr Salahuddin Mengal, Sardar Asmatullah Khan, Syed Ghous Ali Shah and Dr M. Shamim Rana ASCs concluded arguments on the maintainability of the petitions. AGP Maulvi Anwar-ul-Haq and Haqqani's counsel Asma Jehangir also appeared before the bench.
The bench ruled out any possibility of army takeover, arguing that the judiciary had refused to validate military intervention and unconstitutional steps of the then President Pervez Musharraf, through its November 3 and July 31 verdicts against the imposition of emergency.
The AGP submitted a statement on behalf of prime minister, saying that Gilani had strived for independence of judiciary. Gilani is the person who ordered the release of detained judges and restored them, according to the AGP. Maulvi Anwar-ul-Haq further explained the PM's point of view on a press conference, saying the stance of the PPP was based on an historical perspective and was not at all intended to ridicule the judiciary.
"Prime Minister has instructed me to assure the SC that the present government believes in the supremacy of Constitution and rule of law," the AGP told the bench. On the occasion, the bench ruled that the reply purportedly filed by the AGP on behalf of the PM was evasive because there should have been a categorical stand taken by the Prime Minister or the Federal Government in this behalf. The hearing was adjourned till December 27.