Term of commission extended by six weeks

A 10-member of the apex court Thursday granted another six weeks to the Commission investigating the Memogate scandal, to finalise its proceedings, but it did not take up Hussain Haqqani's application that he had filed with a view to recording his statement abroad through a video link.
A 10-member special bench of the Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, has been hearing the memo commission's request for extension in time to finalise the proceedings regarding the memo scam. The Commission was constituted by the Supreme Court to investigate the origin, authenticity and purpose of creating/drafting the Memo of May 10, 2011.
Adjourned the application of Hussain Haqqani, the bench issued directives to the Commission to complete its task expeditiously. The Chief Justice said that the apex order through which Haqqani was asked to appear before the Commission on four days' notice was still intact and as no review application had been filed in this respect yet.
Haqqani on January 30 gave an undertaking before the Supreme Court that he would return to Pakistan and appear before the Commission to record his evidence on a four-day notice. The chief justice said the Advocate on Record (AOR) and Asma Jahangir, counsel for Haqqani, were free to file such applications anytime. Acting Secretary to the commission which comprises Chief Justices of Balochistan, Islamabad and Sindh High Courts, had prayed to the apex court to extend the time. The Attorney General for Pakistan told the court that he had no objection if another six weeks were granted to the commission to complete its task.
Salahuddin Mengal, appearing on behalf of Lieutenant General Abdul Qadir Baloch (Retd), said the commission had already completed its major work. According to him, a one-week extension is quite sufficient. The court agreed to extend the time by six weeks. The deadline for the commission expires on 30th March. The period of extension will commence from March 31.
Chaudhry Akhtar Ali, AOR, on behalf of Hussain Haqqani, filed an application requesting the court to allow him to record his statement before the Commission in a manner adopted in the case of as extended to Mansoor Ejaz. The application further states that the circumstances had drastically changed since the applicant left the country.
The CJP asked the AOR to argue the case. He replied that Asma Jahangir, counsel for Hussain Haqqani, was abroad. Therefore, the application would be argued upon her return. Naseer Bhutto of PML-N alleged that derogatory remarks had been made against the members of the commission in the application.
The court told him that since there was a request that Asma Jahangir was out of country and on general adjournment, therefore it postponed the hearing of this case. The bench noted that Chaudhry Akhtar Ali, AOR, and Asma Jehangir, were at liberty to make an application at any time for the fixation of the case and no sooner was such a request received, the matter would be taken up, subject to the availability of the Bench.The CJP said on 28th March a letter, which requested confidentiality, was received by the registrar.
He said the registrar had sent a note to the bench. According to his note, some contents of the application had already appeared in newspapers. The court noted till a decision on the application, the contents of the application would be kept confidential. The hearing was adjourned for an indefinite period.