LAHORE - The Supreme Court of Pakistan has been requested for issuing directives to the authorities concerned to get red warrants for Hussain Haqqani issued and bring him back through the Interpol to face contempt of court proceedings.
The Watan Party through its Chairman Barrister Zafarullah Khan has made the request in a reply to the objections raised by the former ambassador to United States on the judicial panel formed to probe memo scandal.
Khan said the commission worked tirelessly about six months and it had “every right to understand the working of former ambassador and his loyalty to Pakistan”. He added that Haqqani was appointed as ambassador to the US because he was in good books of the Washington. Khan stated the ex-envoy had failed to disclose the use of American embassy’s funds while Mansoor Ijaz had admitted that he and Haqqani met several times and travel required money.
Khan made a request to the court to set aside Haqqani’s objections as these were incorrect, baseless and unlawful. He appealed to the court to direct the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to get red warrants for Haqqani issued and bring him back to Pakistan through the Interpol to face contempt of court proceedings. The Supreme Court set up a three-judge commission to investigate the memo scandal in response to a petition filed by a group of opposition politicians after the scandal surfaced. Haqqani’s lawyers blamed the panel for being bias.
Notice to NAB: The Lahore High Court on Thursday issued notice to National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on a petition filed by PPP MPA Zarqa Butt against sealing of a house that she got on mortgage.
The petitioner (MPA) through her counsel Safdar Shaheen Peerzada pleaded that she got house of an official Umar Farooq on mortgage against the payment of Rs5.5 million in PCSIR Society. However two months later NAB ousted them from the house and sealed it by saying that Umar Farooq’s father had made this property from the embezzled money. She pointed out that under the mortgage deed she was entitled to have possession of the said house till 2018. She said NAB authorities had illegally sealed the house and requested the court to direct NAB to de-seal the house.
A division bench headed by Justice Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi heard initial arguments and issued notice to NAB. The bench directed the NAB to submit reply in two weeks.
Meanwhile, Judicial Activism Panel has moved a miscellaneous application in the Lahore High Court seeking direction to carry out 22 hours long electricity loadshedding in the Presidency, the Prime Minister House and houses of other VIPs to bring them at par with common citizens. JAP chairman Muhammad Azhar Siddique advocate says that common citizens are bearing burnt of long outage whereas the official residences of important personalities have been exempted from load-shedding.
Azhar has moved miscellaneous application into a main petition pending against load-shedding.
The petitioner says load-shedding will not be eliminated unless the President, Prime Minister and other VIPs bear the wrath of load-shedding like common people.