Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: A nine-strong bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Iftikhar Muhammed Chaudhry will hear the case regarding Memogate scandal today (Tuesday).

Earlier, the Chief Justice Chaudhry constituted a nine-member bench to take up the hearing of Memogate scandal after the Memo Commission yesterday submitted its report with over 300 evidences incorporated in it.

The bench led by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry also comprises Justice Mian Shakirullah Jan, Justice Jawwad S. Khawaja, Justice Khilji Arif Hussain, Justice Tariq Parvez, Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa, Justice Amir Hani Muslim, Justice Ijaz Ahmed Chaudhry and Justice Sh. Azmat Saeed to hear the constitutional petitions regarding the memorandum allegedly delivered to the then US Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen on the part of Pakistani government.

It should be mentioned here that American-Pakistani Businessman Mansoor Ijaz, through one of his writings published in foreign newspapers, brought to the fore the scandal which implicates former ambassador of Pakistan to the US, Hussain Haqqani as the main figure who, at the behest of President Asif Ali Zardari, moved the memorandum.

The Memo Commission, completing its proceedings in five months and 10 days, presented its report in sealed covers to the apex court.

It is pertinent to note here that Supreme Court formed a three-member memo commission headed by Balochistan High Court Chief Justice, Justice Qazi Faiz Issa last year on December 30 to probe the memo scandal.

Ijaz accused the former ambassador Huqqani of approaching him to write a memo to the US official seeking support for the civilian government in the wake of Abbottabad raid that killed Osama Bin Laden.

The commission, running 24 marathon sessions and recoding statements of scores of concerned persons including that of the prime character Mansoor Ijaz’s on video link, prepared the report.

Meantime, the statement of the former ambassador Haqqani could not be recorded as he sought video link facility, like Ijaz on the pretext of security, which the commission didn’t accede. Later on, Haqqani despite repeated summons, refused to come to Pakistan. SAMAA