Islamabad: The Supreme Court of Pakistan will hear the memogate case today (Thursday); meanwhile Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz President Mian Nawaz Sharif would argue the case in apex court.
Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Chief Justice of Pakistan has constituted nine member larger bench to hear the Constitution Petition Nos. 77 to 80 of 2011 filed in the Supreme Court of Pakistan on the issue of alleged Memo delivered to Admiral Mike Mullen, US Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The bench of apex court is comprises of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Mian Shakirullah Jan, Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani, Justice Jawwad S. Khawaja, Justice Tariq Parvez, Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, Justice Amir Hani Muslim, Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan and Justice Ijaz Ahmad Chaudhry.
Constitution Petitions have been filed by Watan Party, M. Tariq Asad, Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and Senator Muhammad Ishaq Dar and another. Notices have been issued to the counsel for the petitioners and Attorney General for Pakistan.
According to the private TV channel a meeting was held in Raiwand Lahore, in which senior party leaders of PML-N participated including senior counsel Fakruddin G Ibrahim and it was decided that Nawaz Sharif would argue the plea in Supreme Court today.
It is worth mentioning here that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has filed a constitutional petition with regard to ‘memo controversy’ in the Supreme Court on 22 November.
PML-N leaders including Nawaz Sharif, Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Ishaq Dar, Sardar Mehtab Ahmed Abbasi, lt general (retd) Abdul Qadir Baloch and other PML-N leaders from various provinces have filed the constitutional petition under Article 184-3 of constitution through senior advocate of apex court Fakharuddin G Ibrahim.
Meanwhile court has clubbed another petition on memo issue filed by advocate Tariq Asad, with the case.
PML-N has made president, Federation, Chief of the Army Staff, Hussain Haqqani, Mansoor Ijaz, DG ISI Ahmed Shuja Pasha and foreign secretary party in the case.
PML-N Chief Nawaz Sharif, in his petition, referred to Mansoor Ijaz’s article in the UK paper and stated that President Zardari and Hussain Haqqani denied the claims initially; therefore, the court should play its role in the matter to safeguard national interest.
PML-N has demanded a probe the memo issue, adding that a transparent inquiry and action against the responsible should be ordered. The petitioner has appealed the apex court to play its productive role in the important national issue. It has been said that earlier president Zardari and Haqqani had rejected that article of US national Mansoor Ijaz