SC seeks govt reply in Asghar Khan case
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court resumed hearing of the Asghar Khan case on Friday and ordered the attorney general to get instructions on classified documents from the government and inform the court,...
March 09, 2012
A three-member bench of the apex court comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, Justice Khilji Arif Hussain and Justice Tariq Parvez heard the case.
Former Army Chief General Aslam Beg, the then DG ISI Lt Gen Asad Durrani and the former Mehran Bank president Younis Habib were present in the court.
During Friday’s proceedings, Beg submitted his rejoinder on the statement of Younis Habib. The apex court expressed resentment over a paragraph of Beg's statement and termed it contempt of court.
The Chief Justice asked Aslam Beg to tender apology over this paragraph.
Aslam Beg then submitted a written apology over this and appealed for deleting that paragraph.
Beg rejected former president Mehran Bank Younis Habib's statement, submitted in the Supreme Court over the petition filed by Air Marshal (retd) Asghar Khan in 1996 regarding the alleged disbursement of money among the politicians by ISI to disrupt the general elections.
The former Army Chief while rejecting Younis Habib's statement, termed it as mere allegations. Aslam Beg said that Habib's statement is an attempt to malign him and the then president of Pakistan Ghulam Ishaq Khan.
Meanwhile, former ISI chief Asad Durrani recorded his statement before the apex court. Durrani said he was ISI chief at that time when the money was distributed among politicians on the directives of the then Army Chief and President. Many officers were deputed to execute the task, he added.
Durrani further said that he knew the decision was taken in the election cell inside in President House. He said that there was no political cell in the ISI, however, few officials were involved in political activities.
Later, the court directed Asad Durrani to submit the written reply and adjourned the hearing till March 14.
On Thursday, former Mehran Bank president Younis Habib told the Supreme Court that former President Ghulam Ishaq Khan and former Army Ahief Mirza Aslam Beg had forced him to arrange Rs400 million for politicians in the name of national interest before the 1990 general elections.
Submitting his first-ever revelation before the court, the bank’s ailing former chief, who appeared before the court in a wheelchair, tendered an unconditional apology and put himself on the mercy of the court for the forceful deed he had committed to comply with the orders of the former president of Pakistan.
“I am the victim of that national interest and apologise for whatever I did to comply with the order of the former president. Now I put myself at the mercy of this august court,” Younis Habib submitted in his written statement.
