ISLAMABAD, Jan 14: Attorney General Maulvi Anwarul Haq will have to appear before the Supreme Court in the NRO case as well as the judicial commission investigating the ‘memogate’ on Monday because his application for time adjustment was rejected by Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry.

The attorney general has been summoned by the apex court and he is expected to inform the court which of the six options given by it to the government for the implementation of the NRO verdict should be considered by a seven-judge bench.

He had moved an application for time adjustment on Thursday, but Chief Justice Chaudhry turned it down and said: “Both the matters (NRO implementation case and memo issue) are very important and have already been fixed by the commission and this court, therefore, any order passed for adjustment will likely cause delay in the respective proceedings.”

The attorney general failed to get a response from the court to his second application on the issue moved on Friday.

The three-judge judicial commission is holding its probe in the Islamabad High Court building, about 12km from the Supreme Court.

“On Friday also I had filed the same application before the larger bench for time adjustment, but till 4pm on Saturday when I left my office I had not received any reply (from the bench),” the attorney general told Dawn.

He said the commission’s proceedings were equally important because it was constituted by the apex court. The seven-member SC bench was constituted after a five-judge bench headed by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa in a hard-hitting order on Jan 10 referred the NRO case back to the chief justice, with a desirability to be heard by a larger bench on Jan 16.

It had asked the attorney general to get instructions from the government and argue before the court why it should not exercise any of the six or all the given options.

The attorney general, Law Secretary Masood Chishtie, National Accountability Bureau Chairman Admiral (retd) Fasih Bokhari and NAB Prosecutor General K.K. Agha are required to appear before the apex court on Monday.

The court had warned that it had the option of actions, including contempt of court proceedings which could attract Article 62 of the Constitution that entails disqualification.

Opinion

In defamation’s name

In defamation’s name

It provides yet more proof that the undergirding logic of public authority in Pakistan is legal and extra-legal coercion rather than legitimised consent.

Editorial

Mercury rising
Updated 27 May, 2024

Mercury rising

Each of the country's leaders is equally responsible for the deep pit Pakistan seems to have fallen into.
Antibiotic overuse
27 May, 2024

Antibiotic overuse

ANTIMICROBIAL resistance is an escalating crisis claiming some 700,000 lives annually in Pakistan. It is the third...
World Cup team
27 May, 2024

World Cup team

PAKISTAN waited until the very end to name their T20 World Cup squad. Even then, there was last-minute drama. Four...
ICJ rebuke
Updated 26 May, 2024

ICJ rebuke

The reason for Israel’s criminal behaviour is that it is protected by its powerful Western friends.
Hot spells
26 May, 2024

Hot spells

WITH Pakistan already dealing with a heatwave that has affected 26 districts since May 21, word from the climate...
Defiant stance
26 May, 2024

Defiant stance

AT a time when the country is in talks with the IMF for a medium-term loan crucial to bolstering the fragile ...