ISLAMABAD – The three-member judicial commission on memo scam is said to have completed drafting its fact-finding report, which will be submitted to Supreme Court on Tuesday. Well-placed sources told TheNation on Monday that Qazi Faez Essa, the head of the judicial penal, directed the commission secretary on Monday to submit the report to Supreme Court today (Tuesday).The judicial commission took four months to complete the probe and two weeks to draft the report. Former ambassador to US Husain Haqqani and his lawyers had already expressed lack of faith in the commission because of alleged lack of impartiality on more than one occasion before boycotting its proceedings at the end.According to them, the commission ‘bent over backwards’ to accommodate Mansoor Ijaz, a foreign national, while making it difficult for Haqqani to present his point of view. At one point during the cross-examination of Mansoor Ijaz from London, Haqqani’s lawyer Syed Zahid Husain Bokhari withdrew from the proceedings to protest the attitude of the Justice Qazi Faez Essa, who stopped him from asking several questions. Haqqani then intervened to get the process restarted.On another occasion, during cross-examination of former ISI chief General Pasha, Haqqani’s lawyers protested that some of their questions and their answers were not being recorded. The commission turned down Haqqani’s request to provide him with a copy of the videotaped proceedings.The most important disputes between Haqqani’s side and the Commission, however, related to the refusal of the commission to allow Haqqani equal treatment and to record his statement by video-link just as it had done for Mansoor Ijaz.When the commission said that it could not allow Haqqani because its hands were tied by the Supreme Court, Haqqani appealed to the apex court, which said it was up to the commission to decide the matter. Even then the commission did not accept Haqqani’s request based on security and health grounds, thereby denying him the opportunity to testify.Haqqani counsels did not appear before the panel when it met to receive forensics report from its secretary about Mansoor Ijaz’ BlackBerry handset. They said they would wait instead for the commission’s report and put objections about its proceedings before the Supreme Court.According to Haqqani’s side, the commission only facilitated Mansoor Ijaz including by giving him videoconference facility and also conducting examination of his BlackBerry handset on his terms in London. Haqqani was informed only by email on 8th of May that the forensic examination would be held in London on 10th of May and he should send his representative even though the short notice made it impossible for him to send a representative even if he wanted to.One source close to Haqqani said, “If the commission had been interested in finding the truth, it would have allowed not only Haqqani but also General James Jones and Admiral Mullen to give statements by videoconference. Now it seems the commission is willing to see the facts only through the eyes of only one man.”According to this source, Haqqani’s side also had strong objections to what the commission calls forensics. According to them, forensics must have been conducted in a forensic laboratory by an expert accepted by everyone. In this case, Mansoor Ijaz was allowed to show his handset to an expert at the Pakistan High Commission in London and then take his handset back with him. The terms of reference of the forensic examination were based on Mansoor Ijaz’ conditions. Selection of forensic expert was also not through a transparent procedure, they alleged.The commission’s findings will likely reinforce the opinion of those already against the government but those who have suspected Mansoor Ijaz of weaving a lie will still not be satisfied by the outcome.

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