3:06 AM
ISLAMABAD: Justice Qazi Faez Essa, during the Memogate hearing in the Islamabad High Court on Thursday, said that if it was told earlier that Mansoor Ijaz will not be coming to Pakistan, then it would have not only saved time but also resolved the case.
The judicial commission probing the Memogate scandal resumed the hearing today.
Ijaz’s counsel Akram Sheikh said that he was appearing before the court “voluntarily” and that the court, according to Pakistani laws, does not hold the authority to summon Ijaz.
He said that if Ijaz comes to Pakistan, the Parliamentary Committee on National Security would also summon him, in reply to which Justice Essa said, “Now you are taking a U-turn.”
Justice Essa added that earlier, security was being made an issue and now the parliamentary committee.
Sheikh prayed to the court that the location for recording Ijaz’s statement be changed to Zurich or London from Dubai. Justice Essa questioned that what is the guarantee that if the court’s representatives go abroad, Ijaz will have his statement recorded.
Ijaz has been summoned by the parliamentary and judicial commissions investigating the case, and has twice refused to come to Pakistan despite assurances of proper security.
In the request, Sheikh had said that Ijaz has a security threat if he comes to Pakistan and there is also the danger that he might be arrested on false charges or evidence might be taken away from him.
Posted in: NATIONAL
