CJP forms new bench to hear Memogate case

ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Asif Saeed Khan Khosa on Saturday constituted a new bench to hear the Memogate case, ARY News reported.

The three-judge bench headed by Justice Gulzar Ahmed will hear the case on Feb 14.

The attorney general, Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) director general and the prosecutor general have been put on notice to ensure their presence in the hearing. The secretaries of the foreign and interior ministries have also been issued notices by the court.

At a previous hearing, the Supreme Court was informed that some developments regarding extradition of former Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States Hussain Haqqani have been made but it could be shared in in-camera proceedings.

Read Also: Memogate case: FIA approaches Interpol for Haqqani’s extradition

A two-member bench of the apex court comprising former chief justice Mian Saqib Nisar and Justice Ijazul Ahsan took up the Memogate case. Former Pakistan Ambassador to the United States Husain Haqqani has been accused of delivering a memo to Admiral Mike Mullen of the US through Mansoor Ijaz an American businessman of Pakistani origin.

In 2012, a judicial body had investigated the Memogate scandal and submitted its report to the apex court, holding Haqqani guilty of authoring an explosive memo and termed his acts as disloyalty to the country.

Haqqani is alleged to have written a memo to Adm. Mike Mullen, the top US military officer at the time, offering greater government cooperation in return for helping to avert possible dismissal of the civilian government in the wake of the May 2 raid in year 2012, which led to the capture and killing of Osama bin Laden.