Politics of the 1990s: Petition filed as SC resumes ISI’s political funding case

Khairi says purpose of petition is to end spy agency’s interference in political affairs.

ISLAMABAD:

As the Supreme Court gears up to resume its hearing on a case regarding the alleged distribution of millions of rupees among politicians by the Directorate of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) after nearly 15 years, yet another petition has been filed in the apex court seeking closure of the political wing of the top spy agency.

A three-member bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, will hear today (on Wednesday) the petition filed by Air Marshal (retd) Asghar Khan against the alleged distribution of money among politicians by ISI before the 1990 elections.

Habib Wahabul Khairi, the petitioner – who is also the chairman of his own al Jihad Trust, known for Supreme Court’s 1999 famous judgment related to judges’ appointment criteria – alleged that former premier Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto had established this political cell in the ISI for his vested interests in 1975. “The purpose of my petition is to end ISI’s interference in political affairs of the state, as it is violation of fundamental rights,” Khairi stated

Khairi was also the counsel for Asghar in the case when it was taken up by the Supreme Court in 1996. But this time, he will argue his application separately before the bench. Advocate Suleman Akram Raja would appear before the court on behalf of Asghar.

Air marshal Asghar had filed a petition in 1996 after former interior minister Naseerullah Babar gave a statement in Parliament that the ISI helped distribute Rs140 million among political opponents of the Pakistan People Party (PPP) during the 1990 elections. Proceedings on the case started in 1996 when Justice Sajjad Ali Shah was the chief justice.

In his petition, air marshal Asghar, who was also the founder of the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Istaqlal, had requested the court to look into allegations that the ISI has provided funds to create the Islamic Jamhoori Itehad to harm Benazir Bhutto’s election campaign. In their submitted affidavits before the court, General Mirza Aslam Beg, then army chief, and Lt Gen Assad Durrani, then ISI chief, confessed to the charges against them in the petition.

Khairi also made these two former senior officers of the armed forces respondents in his application and requested the court to order closing down ISI’s political wing permanently. He asked the court to ensure recovery of the distributed money from political parties including Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), keeping in view the present value of the money. He also asked the court to declare all the involved politicians ineligible to contest the upcoming elections on corruption grounds.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 29^th, 2012.