Disposing of an application filed by former ambassador to the US Husain Haqqani to record his statement before Memogate Commission through a video-link from abroad, the Supreme Court on Tuesday said it was Commission's prerogative to decide mechanisms that it deemed fit and appropriate to record anybody's statement during the proceedings.
A 10-member special bench led by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry in its order said: "The Commission without prejudice in anybody case may adopt a procedure for recording statement in the interest of justice." At the outset of hearing, Asma Jehangir, the counsel for Haqqani, pointed out that under the earlier order of the apex court in the Memogate scandal her client was not bound to record statement from abroad.
She told the bench that the Commission turned down Haqqani's request to record statement through a video-link in London from a phone where Mansoor Ejaz was recoding his statement through a video-conferencing link. She submitted that Haqqani' fundamental rights were breached because he was not allowed to record his statement through a video-link but Ejaz Mansoor was permitted to record statement through video-conferencing before the Commission.
Ms Jahangir claimed that Haqqani was declared an accused even before his trial she said she was only requesting the bench to extend the same facility to her client which was provided to Mansoor Ejaz. She demanded that a facility which was extended to an alien in the case must be given to Haqqani as well. The bench inquired form Haqqani's counsel whether she would raise any objection in case the court observed that the issue in relation to recording of statement should be tackled by the Memogate Commission. Ms Jahangir submitted that she would raise no objection.
A petitioner of the case, Tariq Asad appeared before the bench and read out the last four lines of the order of the apex court relating to Memogate Commission on January 30, 2011 and said the orders were crystal clear that "Haqqani is bound to return to Pakistan within four days if summoned by the commission."
Asad raised a point saying: "In the past everybody was taking the contempt of court matter seriously but the presently situation is totally different as in the corridors of apex court people openly discuss the contempt of court matters". He also named a senior anchor person who, according to him, he discusses contempt of court related matters in his programme. According to Justice Jawad S. Khawaja, court conducts its proceedings under the law and it has nothing to do with the discussions, which are out of the law.
Akram Sheikh, counsel for the Mansoor Ejaz, contended that his client's and Haqqani's situations were totally different in the case. The bench told him that the Commission was competent to address all the issues relating to proceedings.