4:32 AM
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Friday announced that the petitions filed by Nawaz Sharif and others requesting a judicial inquiry into the memo scandal were maintainable, FTNews reported.
Moreover, the apex court ordered a judicial commission, based on high court judges, to be formed to further investigate the issue. The commission will be headed by the chief justice of the Balochistan High Court.
The Supreme Court also ordered the commission to complete the investigation in four weeks.
According to the decision, an earlier court order that restricts former Ambassador to the US Hussain Haqqani from leaving Pakistan without permission will also stay intact.
“This is a black day. This is very disappointing judgment,” said Haqqani’s lawyer Asma Jehangir in response to Friday’s judgment.
“Today we feel that the military authority is superior to the civilian authority. Today, the struggle for the transition to democracy has been blocked.”
Senator Ishaq Dar, one of the petitioners in the case, welcomed the court’s ruling. “We would have accepted the order even if it was in opposition,” he said.
“The court has established a commission for the investigation into the memo case. The Chief Justice of the Baluchistan High Court will lead this commission,” Attorney-General Maulvi Anwar-ul-Haq told reporters outside the Supreme Court building.
Posted in: NATIONAL
