The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued notices to former Director General Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) Lieutenant General Asad Durrani (Retd), Ministry of Defence and defunct Mehran Bank's chief executive Younis Habib with the directives to file replies in relation to a petition that Air Marshal Asghar Khan (retired) filed as far back as 1996.
Khan filed the petition against the misuse of public money reportedly disbursed through Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) to influence the 1990 general election results. A three-member bench comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Khilji Arif Hussain and Justice Tariq Parvez, also directed its office to trace the record pertaining to the statements of the then army chief, General Mirza Aslam Beg, the then interior minister, Naseerullah Babar, and the then ISI chief, Asad Durrani, in the case in 1998 and produce it in sealed envelope on the next hearing.
The bench noted that the statements of Mirza Aslam Beg, Asad Durrani and Naseerullah Babar had been recorded in-camera, but the same were not available in the record presented before it. The court also noted that according to May 27, 1998 order-sheet, a sealed cover report on the working of ISI had been submitted. It must also be made available to the bench on the next hearing.
The Chief Justice observed that the presence of Durrani during the case proceedings was imperative. He directed that postal address of Mehran Bank's chief executive Younis Habib should be traced to serve on him notice.
Attorney General for Pakistan Maulvi Anwarul Haq informed the bench that no one had contacted him on behalf of the Defence Ministry. The bench revealed that a perusal of the record showed that on June 25, 1998, a letter was addressed to SC registrar, in which it was mentioned that since the Defence ministry was the administrative ministry of Directorate General ISI, thus it is (Defence ministry) was required to be informed about the dates of hearing as and when those were fixed. The last hearing of the case had taken place in 1996, in which former Chief of Army Staff Mirza Aslam Beg and former ISI chief Asad Durrani had admitted disbursement of Rs 140 million to manipulate 1990 general election. However, they had not produced before the court any evidence about the money that they had disbursed to anti-PPP politicians, political parties and journalists.
At the outset of hearing, the Chief Justice noted that the hearing of the case was not feasible in the absence of Durrani. Akram Sheikh, counsel for Durrani, however informed the court that his client was in Colombo and would not be able to come back before March 5 or 6.
Earlier, Akram Sheikh had represented Mirza Aslam Beg in the case when it was being heard by a Supreme Court bench headed by the then Chief Justice Saeed-uz-Zaman Siddiqui in May 1999, which also had reserved its judgement in the matter. "This case not only involves two former top generals but a number of key politicians and important players of the present political and media chessboard of the country," the Chief Justice observed.
The court noted that a receipt of notice by Durrani could not be ensured due to change of his available address. Salman Akram Raja, counsel for Asghar Khan, apprised the bench that the statement of Durrani was an origin of the case, adding that it was a matter of involvement in a democratic process.
During the hearing, a June 16, 1996 letter of Asghar Khan addressed to the then Chief Justice of Pakistan, Sajjad Ali Shah, was also read out on court's orders. According to the letter, the then Army Chief, Mirza Aslam Beg, withdrew Rs 150 million from the then Mehran Bank and used the money to manipulate 1990 election results.
According to the letter, the money was disbursed among anti-PPP politicians and others: They included Nawaz Sharif who got Rs 3.5 million; Mir Afzal Khan Rs 10 million; Lieutenant General Rafaqat Rs 5.6 million for distribution among journalists; Abida Hussain Rs 1 million; Jamaat-e-Islami Rs 5 million; Altaf Hussain Qureshi Rs 500,000; Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi (Sindh) Rs 5 million; Jam Sadiq (Sindh) Rs 5 million ; Muhammad Khan Junejo (Sindh) Rs 250,000 ; Pir Pagara (Sindh) Rs 2 million ; Maulana Salahuddin (Sindh) Rs 300,000; different small groups in Sindh owe Rs 5.4 million and Humayun Marri form Balochistan was indebted Rs 1.5 million.
The Chief Justice remarked that the letter also contained the names of Bazenjo and Kakar tribes and inquired about the beneficiaries of these tribes. Salman Akram Raja, however, stated that such tribe beneficiaries' names were also mentioned in the letter, adding that Durrani had also submitted three documents along with his affidavit.
The Chief Justice noted that the presence of Durrani was imperative in the matter. He said the entire record of the case would have to be examined and the previous order sheets would also have to be procured. He added that the case's record would be provided to all the concerned parties. The bench inquired why Mehran Bank's chief executive Younis Habib was not issued notices.
To a court query, Akram Sheikh stated that Durrani had appeared before the court in the present case several times. He said the statements of Aslam Beg and Naseerullah Babar were also available on the court record and they had also been cross-examined. "We want to examine this case in accordance with the law," the Chief Justice remarked. Later, the court adjourned further proceedings until March 8.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.