Reasserting the implausibility of the Supreme court’s order for Haqqani’s retrieval, the apex court was told that only the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had the authority to make further efforts for extradition of the disgraced ex-ambassador. The judiciary’s revival of Husain Haqqani’s case a few months ago, under the swinging sword of sou motu relegated government institutions to the arduous task of formulating a framework to bring Haqqani back to Pakistan from the US. However, political experts asserted that Haqqani’s call for extradition cannot be based on the perfunctory grounds of ‘contempt of court’, and the chances of Interpol entertaining such whims is equally improbable.
“Contempt of court’, justifiably, remains a legal lacuna in enlisted extraditable offences under multi-lateral treaties and international laws that deal with extradition. Where the counsel has cited alternative mechanisms like serving a formal letter to the US and seeking cooperation in the matter, or even bring up a tradeoff in lieu of Pakistan’s cooperation in the war of terror, embroiling NAB as well as the government in instigating an already tenuous bilateral relationship with the US over the vacuous process of extraditing Haqqani, without any legal bearing, will only serve to instigate political discord. The treason charges against former ambassador Haqqani are have deep political implications and should only be levelled with proof. Moreover, Pakistan’s international alliances and obligations should be tread with caution. Where the maiden government is still in the process of amalgamation and anti-graft bodies like FIA and NAB are dithering over voluminous corruption cases at home, it seems that going to such disproportionate lengths to rehash a case that just qualifies as fodder for garnering nationalist fervor, is a misallocation of the energy of all the institutions involved. Like the counsel argued, the such streamlined veracity could be put to better use in several other ongoing transnational investigations like cybercrimes and human trafficking.
