Islamabad: Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Wednesday issued notices to former ISI chief Asad Durrani and the Defence Ministry as it resumed hearing a petition against the funding of politicians by the spy agency after a gap of over 12 years. A three-judge bench led by Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry also sought records related to the case filed in 1996 by former air force chief Asghar Khan.
Among the documents sought by the bench were in-camera statements recorded in the past by Durrani, late Maj Gen Naseerullah Khan Babar and former army chief Gen (retired) Mirza Aslam Beg, and a report on the functioning of the ISI that was originally submitted to the apex court in 1998.
The bench said all these documents should be presented in court in sealed envelopes.
Asghar Khan, who recently announced he would merge his Tehrik-e-Istaqlal party with Imran Khan’s Tehrik-e-Insaaf party, had filed the petition against Beg, Durrani and Yunus Habib, the former head of Mehran Bank.
The last hearing of the case was held 12 years and four months ago. During on Wednesday’s hearing, the bench said it was necessary to go through the records as considerable time had passed since the last hearing.
The bench further said the matter could not be put off for long and decided to schedule the next hearing for March 2.
At this point, a defence lawyer pointed out that former ISI chief Durrani was abroad on a private visit and would not return till March 6. At the suggestion of Attorney General Anwar-ul-Haq, the court adjourned the matter till March 8.
The bench further observed that Durrani’s presence was necessary in court as the case could not be taken forward in his absence.
It directed officials to ascertain banker Yunus Habib’s current address within two days so that a notice could also be issued to him.
Asghar Khan’s petition had accused Habib of facilitating the distribution of at least Rs 14 crore from his Mehran Bank to defeat the Pakistan People’s Party in the 1990 election.
The funds meant to manipulate the results of the polls in favour of the army-backed Islami Jamhoori Ittehad. The money was reportedly distributed among anti-PPP politicians, political parties and journalists.
The case could cause embarrassment for the military and politicians like PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif, who was reportedly among the recipients of the funds. The Dawn newspaper, in an editorial, noted that the subject matter of the case “may be high-octane and may yield embarrassing headlines for the army and certain politicians” but Asghar Khan’s petition was “unlikely to become a transformative moment in the history of civil-military relations”.
The petition does not seek any specific punishment against former army chief Mirza Aslam Beg, Asad Durrani or Yunus Habib, it said.
“At best there will be a declaratory judgment along the lines of the one that said the Emergency declared by Gen (Pervez) Musharraf in 2007 was unconstitutional. Those expecting that jail terms or other punishments will be awarded are likely to be disappointed,” the editorial said.
Asghar Khan’s lawyer Wahabul Khairi on Tuesday petitioned the Supreme Court to eliminate the political wing of the ISI, which has often been accused of meddling in the affairs of political parties. Khairi has asked the court to take up his application along with Asghar Khan’s petition.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and lawmakers has expressed concern over diversion of its aide money by Pakistan for other purposes, even as the United States has tried to build a fire wall in this regard.
“Well, we certainly have constructed one,” Clinton told lawmakers at a Congressional hearing on Tuesday when Senator Jim Webb asked if the United States has developed a firewall in the financial aid going into Pakistan, so that they do not directly or indirectly assist in expansion of their nuclear programme.
She said that part of the ongoing dialogue with Pakistan is around the reforms they need to make for their own people, she said, adding that the latter over the years has invested a great deal in its military. “They have invested the great bulk of their revenues into their military establishment, including their nuclear programme, to the great cost of providing basic education, health care, electricity — the kinds of things that would demonstrate to the people of Pakistan they had a government that number one, cared about them; and number two, produced for them,” she said.
“So I can answer the direct question: Yes, we have a firewall, but that isn’t the end of the dialogue — as you know very well. And we’re going to keep pressing hard to make sure that, you know, the IMF and the World Bank and we and others are working toward the kind of reforms that are going to stabilise Pakistan for the long term,” Clinton said.
Meanwhile, Senator Webb said that the Obama Administration has increased its financial aid to Pakistan in the fiscal 2013. Financial aid of USD 2.4 billion into the country actually reflects an increase in funding for its military as compared to last year. (PTI)
