Malik Riaz appears before Suddle Commission

ISLAMABAD: The one-man inquiry commission headed by Dr Shoaib Suddle, which is investigating Malik Riaz Hussain’s allegations against Dr Arsalan Iftikhar, has stated that the onus of proving himself right was on Malik Riaz therefore he should assist the commission.
The commission issued a press release which says, “One-man inquiry commission appointed by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of Pakistan for conducting a fact finding inquiry into the allegations levelled by Malik Riaz Hussain against Dr Arsalan Iftikhar has been issuing repeated notices to Malik Riaz Hussain to submit his concise statement along with supporting evidence.

Instead of doing the needful, he has continued to persist in his stance that as the matter challenging the power of the Supreme Court to constitute such a commission was pending in the apex court, he did not wish to appear before the commission in the meanwhile.

However, in response to the 5th notice issued to him on 07.11.2012 for 13.11.2012, Malik Riaz Hussain appeared before the commission today (Tuesday) afternoon.

Malik Riaz Hussain was accompanied by four persons; his counsel Mr Zahid Hussain Bokhari, Haji Muhammad Nawaz Khokhar, ex-Deputy Speaker National Assembly, Col (R) Khalil-ur-Rehman, his Security Officer and Ch Amjad, Director Lands, Bahria Town (Pvt) Ltd.

Malik Riaz Hussain’s counsel contended before the commission that since the constitution of the commission was under challenge in the Supreme Court, his client would not be ready to extend cooperation to the commission.

According to Mr Zahid Hussain Bokhari, while the commission’s functioning was fully lawful between 30.08.2012 and 05.10.2012, it was not so between 06.10.2012 and 05.11.2012, when the Supreme Court did not expressly extend its term.

However, he accepted that the commission’s proceedings were lawful w.e.f. 06.11.2012, after the apex court had issued order in that regard. He also filed his written objections in this regard before the commission.

Personally arguing on the same lines, Malik Riaz Hussain further added that he had already filed a concise statement before the apex court, and the commission was free to investigate issues raised therein rather than gathering evidence from other sources.

The commission conveyed to Malik Riaz Hussain that being a complainant in the case, the onus was on him to assist the commission in arriving at a fair and just conclusion of the inquiry.

In any case, his request to restrain the commission was not acceded to by the apex court. As there was no restraining order from the apex court and the time limit for the commission to complete the inquiry had been extended up to 06.12.2012, it was only lawful for the commission to continue with its proceedings.”

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