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Memo scandal: President, COAS asked to submit reply
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) after initial hearing in the memo scandal has asked all the parties including the president and COAS to submit reply in 15 days, Geo News reported.A nine-member bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, was hearing the petitions, filed by Nawaz Sharif, Watan Party’s Tariq Asad, Senator Muhammad Ishaq Dar and another.
The SC accepted the petition for hearing. The court in its order said Article 5 binds every citizen to be faithful to country and the memo raised questions over country's sovereignty.
Action should be taken against those involved, the order said.
Rehman Malik's statement has been made part of court order in which he said that the communication was between ambassador and US citizen.
Former ambassador to US Husain Haqqani has been barred from leaving the country.
A commission to probe the memogate scandal has been formed which will be headed by former DG FIA Tariq Khosa.
The CJ in his initial remarks observed that the memo issue is both criminal and civil in nature and the authenticity of memo is still not verified.
In the context of Mansoor Ijaz’z article, the matter is of high importance.
Justice Jawwad S. Khwaja said everyone wanted to know the truth but the forum to ascertain the facts is to be decided.
Nawaz read out the contents of the memo before the court and said only the court can bring out the truth because the Parliament is sidelined. He also pleaded the bench to summon all parties.
The US business tycoon Mansoor Ijaz claimed that he was directed to craft the memo by former Pakistani ambassador the US, Husain Haqqani.
Courtesy www.geo.tv